Realigning the Arrow
by Tyson FoxFlame
Summary: [AU][SxR,LxC,OTHERS]Selphie's caught in the middle of a triangle, Roxas is busy denying his curiousity, Leon's fending off an old flame, and Sora and Riku are the only ones happy in the whole scene. Welcome to Destiny High School, famous for its drama.
1. Questioning the Arrow

_Chapter One**  
**_**Questioning the Arrow**

* * *

"Roxas come on! We're going to be late!" the excitable brunet called from the other end of the hall, racing over toward Roxas. The blond boy sighed and continued emptying his bag into his locker. 

"Sora, relax. It's an assembly, we have time," he assured the other boy. Sora bounced on the balls of his feet.

"But Riku's speaking and I wanna get a seat where I can see him!" he exclaimed, blue eyes sparkling at the mere thought. Roxas rolled his eyes and slammed the locker shut, getting dragged by his companion down the hallway.

"Somehow I figured as much," he mumbled. Sora grinned widely and slung an arm over Roxas's shoulders.

"Aw Roxy, you know me too well," he said with a wink.

"Why do you insist on calling me Roxy? It makes me sound like a major flamer." Sora stared blankly at the other boy.

"What's wrong with being a flamer?" he asked.

"Nothing," Roxas insisted.

"No seriously, what?"

"Sora, if there was something wrong with being a flamer, I wouldn't be friends with you."

"I'm not a flamer!" Sora protested loudly as the two sophomores entered the auditorium. Roxas nodded to himself. Sora shook his head and led the blond through the crowd of students toward a row of seats.

"Sora, there's nothing wrong with being a flamer. I just don't think it's right for me."

"What's not right for you, Roxy?" a redheaded girl asked as the two boys came upon their group of friends. Roxas shook his head and slipped into a seat next to her.

"It's nothing Kairi, really," he assured her with a grin.

"Sure, Kairi can call him Roxy but when I do it, I get called a flamer," Sora grumbled as he sank down into a seat between a boy with spiky blond hair and a petite brunette.

"That's because Kairi has a vagina," the blond said bluntly, glancing over at Sora.

"Thanks, Cloud, thanks."

"Well, Cloud's right. Besides, you're our favorite flamer," the brunette girl added as she leaned over, pinching Sora's cheek lightly. The blue-eyed boy screamed and pulled away, digging his face into Cloud's side.

"Owie, Selphie! Stop it!" he cried, burying himself deeper into Cloud's side. Suddenly a hand grabbed a fistful of hair and lifted him up and out of his hiding spot. "Ow, ow, ow!" he shrieked. He came face-to-face with an older brunet with longer hair and piercing grey eyes.

"Go find your own boyfriend to hide in," he said solemnly, releasing Sora's hair and pushing him away from Cloud. Sora rubbed his head and sat back.

"Jeeze Leon," Cloud snorted and shook his head. Leon shrugged and folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm just saying he either needs to go find Riku or stop being a pussy. I mean, it's _Selphie._"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Selphie suddenly interjected, leaning around Sora to glare at the older brunet.

"Never mind."

"No, what?"

"Nothing, Sel. Just drop it."

"You're so mean, **Squall!**" Selphie huffed and flumped back in her seat, staring at the seat ahead of her. Leon's right eye twitched slightly and he narrowed his eyes at the green-eyed girl.

"Never call me that," he said before stopping all together, also staring at the seat ahead of him. Sora stared between his two friends for a moment before nodding slowly.

"O…kay. Anyway, where's everybody else?" he asked. Selphie suddenly perked up and began doing a headcount.

"Let's see. Naminé's sitting next to Kairi who's next to Roxas who's next to Leon who's next to Cloud who's next to you who's next to me. Wakka's skipping out and went home, Yuffie and Aerith are backstage helping the speaker, Riku's playing MC so he's on the stage somewhere too, and I haven't seen Tidus yet," she finished with a slight pout.

"What about me?" Tidus asked, appearing above Selphie's head. The green-eyed girl shrieked happily and latched onto the freshman's arm, pulling him down into his seat.

"Yay, Tidus is here!" she exclaimed happily. Sora laughed and looked at Tidus.

"Hey kid, nice of you to join us."

"Yeah, it's great to see you too. Surprised you didn't get shoved into a locker on your way," Tidus replied teasingly. Sora gave him a sheepish look and pointed toward Roxas.

"I made sure Roxas was with me before I went anywhere."

"Figures." The lights in the audience suddenly dimmed and the lights on the stage came on. Riku rose up from his chair in the corner and walked into the center of the stage with his mic, silver hair flowing behind him.

"Okay guys, listen up," he said, watching as half of the auditorium fell silent and the other half kept talking. Riku tapped his foot on the ground impatiently and spoke again.

"Hey, shut up!" That silenced everybody in the room. Riku smirked and began talking again. "Anyway, hi, thanks for coming out today for this wonderful assembly. I mean, think about it. Shorter classes, we get out of school earlier, it all evens out!" That aroused cheers from the crowd.

"Get on with it, Masaki!" Principal Maleficent said from the side of the stage, staring at Riku darkly. Riku shifted slightly and nodded.

"Er, right, anyway. I hereby would like to introduce our guest speaker for today, Ms. Quistis Trepe!" Riku announced, stepping out of the spotlight and allowing a young blonde woman to take his place. She smiled and held her mic with dignity, looking out into the crowd of high school students.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm sure most of you are grown up and have been through puberty already," she began.

"Yeah, except for Sora," Roxas snickered under his breath.

"Shut up!"

"Guys, quiet down!" Kairi hissed to them. The two boys went silent and focused on the speaker again.

"Now I realize that at your age, you're going to get some urges to do things with other kids your age. Drugs, alcohol, and even sex. You should not be having sex at your age."

"Gee, guess we missed that memo," Cloud chuckled quietly.

"Shut up, Cloud," Leon replied but was smirking as well.

"Even if you are having sex, you should be doing it safely. However, keep in mind the consequences that come from having sex. Sex should be a personal choice, not something you're pressured into doing," Quistis continued preaching. Sora chose to tune her out and looked onto the stage, locking eyes with Riku. Aquamarine eyes twinkled back at him and Riku smiled, nodding slightly at his boyfriend. Sora's face split into a grin and he looked at Selphie.

"Doesn't Riku look absolutely gorgeous?"

"Well of course he does. I mean, he's Riku. But honestly, do you always examine how hot he is every time you see him?" Selphie questioned, tilting her head slightly.

"I don't know. I like to think of it as appreciating what I have."

"Yeah well I like to think of it as an obsession," Tidus cut in.

"Well who asked you?" Sora remarked.

"I asked me."

"That didn't make sense."

"Oh knock it off," Selphie said, lacing her fingers with Tidus's. "It's not important. Let Sora obsess with Riku if it makes him happy."

"I'm not obsessing!" Sora protested.

"Just listen to the speaker, Sor."

"Not only could you get STDs or pregnant, you could instantly regret it. However, I do have to say, gay sex does not count as sex. Sex is defined as intercourse between a man and a woman, not two men or two women. Therefore, homosexual sexual relationships do not truly exist." Quistis paced around on the stage.

"…guess we missed that memo too," Cloud said thoughtfully. Sora blinked and looked at Quistis.

"What's she talking about?" he whispered to his friends. Selphie shook her head and looked up at Riku on the stage, who was starting to look furious.

"Homosexuality is not the way to go. First of all, it's frowned upon greatly in society, plus it's just not good for the planet. If everybody became a homosexual, there would be no rise in the population and the human race would die out."

"Isn't she stretching things a little too far out?" Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know…" Roxas trailed off.

"If you're going to have sex, at least have straight sex. However, it's still morally wrong to have sex before marriage."

"Riku looks pissed," Naminé pointed out.

"Well think about it, Nami. This lady is busy slamming sex and then homosexuality…Riku's got a **boy**friend. Don't you think he has the right to be mad?" Kairi asked the blonde freshman girl.

"Um, I suppose so."

"Exactly."

Quistis continued on her speech for another 20 minutes or so, contradicting herself time and time again between preaching abstinence and downing homosexuality. Riku gritted his teeth with each word that he was hearing, focusing his attention on Sora.

Beautiful, sweet, lovable Sora.

Fuck anybody that was going to tell him that loving such a wonderful person was wrong. Without thinking, Riku jumped up out of his chair and walked over to Quistis rather stiffly.

"Well, Ms. Trepe, sorry to interrupt you but we're out of-" he was cut off by the bell ringing, signaling the end of the day. Riku smiled gratefully and finished his sentence. "Time." He turned to his audience and waved his hand. "Go home, have a nice day, enjoy it!" Everyone in the auditorium rose as Riku walked off-stage to put away his mic. Tidus stood up and led Selphie out of the auditorium, not letting go of her hand. Sora followed after them along with the rest of their friends. Leon and Cloud turned toward the stage and left, going off to find Yuffie and Aerith most likely.

The six remaining teens wound up in the hallway, standing in a group next to the auditorium door. Sora looked over them all and leaned against the wall.

"So what're everybody's plans for this afternoon?" he asked.

"Well, Nami and I are going shopping," Kairi replied.

"Since when?"

"We decided on it during the assembly," Naminé answered. Selphie glanced at Kairi quietly, looking a bit offended that she hadn't been asked to go with them. Sora noticed the semi-hurt look but chose to ignore it when Selphie brought another smile to her face as cover.

"And I'm going to Wakka's," Tidus interrupted, shifting his bag on his shoulder.

"I thought you were coming over today?" Selphie looked over to Tidus, the hurt look returning again. The boy merely shrugged and draped an arm loosely around her waist.

"Sorry Selph. Wakka's training me today for blitzball, y'know?"

"Well then, there go my plans," the brunette sighed softly. Sora looked over to Roxas.

"Roxy, what are you doing?"

"Absolutely nothing. Figured I'd crash at your house for lack of anything better to do," the blond replied.

"In other words the parents aren't home?"

"Basically." Roxas nodded and scuffed his toe along the floor.

"I'm coming over too then," Selphie declared just then.

"Fine by me." Sora grinned and stretched out. Sitting in that auditorium for 45 minutes was rather painful. "So where's Riku?"

"Try looking behind you a few inches and see if you can't spot him," Riku teased as he grabbed onto Sora's shoulders, draping his arms over them. Sora glanced back and beamed.

"Hi!" he chirped. Riku gave him an amused smile and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Hey there. What's going on?"

"Selphie and Roxas are coming over. Are you?" Sora asked, turning around in his boyfriend's grasp to face him.

"I already told you yes when you asked me that this morning," Riku reminded him.

"Ooh, right." Kairi shook her head at Sora and Naminé giggled.

"Well guys, Kai and I are off!" Naminé announced and waved as she and Kairi began leaving.

"See ya tomorrow!" Kairi called over her shoulder before the two girls disappeared outside. Tidus glanced down at his watch and sighed.

"I better go too. Wakka said to be at his place by three and it's 2:53 now. I'll catch you guys later." He kissed Selphie's lips lightly and waved before running out of the building and down the street toward Wakka's. The four remaining teens stood in the hallway looking at one another.

"So are we going to get going or what?" Selphie questioned, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, might as well," Roxas agreed as the group began heading outside. Fall had begun to set upon the islands as the leaves were changing color and the nights got a bit cooler. However, during the day it was still warm enough for them to go without jackets.

"Oh! I just remembered that I have ice cream!" Sora stated out of nowhere. Riku rewarded him with a strange look as he laced their fingers together.

"Okay and?" he said in attempt to get the boy to continue.

"That was it. I'm hungry." Sora shrugged. Riku laughed and ruffled Sora's hair.

"Goof," he said fondly.

"Yeah but he's our favorite goof," Selphie pointed out.

"So hang on. I'm your favorite flamer **and** your favorite goof?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "Is that even possible?"

"Must be since you're standing here," Roxas replied with a small smirk.

"Wait, wait, wait. Who called you a flamer?" Riku questioned, tilting his head slightly. Sora immediately pointed to Roxas.

"He did." Riku turned his head and looked at Roxas coolly. Roxas stared at him blankly and rolled his eyes.

"Please. Riku you know it's true. And like I said, nothing wrong with being a flamer," the blond said in his defense.

"I don't care, it's still rude. Assweed." Riku turned away then.

"Assweed? What'd I do?" Roxas cried, looking at Selphie and tugging on her sleeve. "Huh?"

"You insulted Sora. Therefore, Riku's not pleased. Therefore, you have been dubbed as an assweed and shall remain so until Riku changes his mind," Selphie retorted with a large grin. It was clear that she was pretty amused by the whole situation. Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"I was kidding though," he mumbled as the four kids walked up the path to Sora's house.

"…so was I," Riku said slowly, giving Roxas a look that plainly said 'Are you stupid?'

"Oh." Roxas grinned sheepishly. Sora snickered and unlocked the door, ushering everybody inside.

"So, my room or living room or den or what?" Sora asked as he shut the door behind him.

"Your room and your bed," Riku purred, standing behind Sora and nuzzling his ear. Sora squeaked and twitched.

"Riku not now!" he exclaimed but smiled contently. Selphie giggled behind her hand and Roxas remained looking confused.

"I agree with Riku though, your room," Selphie cut in, bounding up the stairs toward the brunet's bedroom.

"Kay well, Sora and I will meet you up there. I want ice cream," Riku stated.

"Well then what does Sora have to stay for?" Roxas inquired. Riku's eyes shifted and he narrowed them at Roxas.

"He wants ice cream too," he explained and pushed Roxas toward the stairs, dragging Sora back with him into the kitchen. Sighing loudly and shaking his head at Riku's antics, he climbed upstairs slowly, entering Sora's room. Selphie was sitting on the bed with a PS2 controller in her hands and Burnout 3: The Takedown loading on the TV. Roxas decided that since Selphie was using the PS2 it wouldn't hurt for him to use the computer that was sitting in the corner. After all, Sora had cable; he still was on dial-up. Opening an internet browser window, he went through the process of checking his email. Not that he had any anyway, but it never hurt to check.

"Mwahuhahua! Take that, jerkface!" Selphie shouted at the TV as she rammed the opponent cars into the wall, wiping them out momentarily. Roxas chuckled and turned toward the TV for a moment.

"Have I ever said that you're crazy?" he asked lightly.

"No but thanks for saying it now," Selphie replied, never looking away from the screen as she continued taking down the other cars that attempted to speed by her. Roxas looked back at the computer monitor and clicked on the address bar. Typing in the address for Myspace, he came across the homepage and logged into his account. He scanned over the contents of the page briefly, noticing that he had no new comments or anything. Suddenly a flash of red caught his eye and he looked over to the right-hand side of the screen.

"Cool new people," he mumbled to himself, looking at the three pictures displayed. The one that had gotten his attention was a beauty with long spiky red hair and unnaturally bright green eyes. Captivated by the colors of the figure, Roxas clicked on the redhead's profile before he could even process what he was doing. Once the profile had loaded, Roxas glanced over at the picture and stared in awe. He didn't move, didn't blink, and for a short time, didn't even breathe as he took in the sight before him. Selphie noticed that the clacking of the keys on the keyboard had stopped and she paused her game, looking over to where Roxas was sitting. Noticing that the boy was staring, she smiled and perked up.

"See something you like, Roxy?" she asked him. Roxas didn't answer her as he continued staring at the picture, ignoring everything Selphie was saying. After all, it probably wasn't important anyway, most things she said never were.

Out in the hall, Sora and Riku clamored up the stairs, Riku with a bowl of ice cream and Sora with a bit of ice cream running down his neck. Cringing at the sticky mess, he wiped at it with his hand and licked it off of his fingers. The two entered Sora's room and spotted Selphie staring at Roxas, who was staring at the screen. Riku raised an eyebrow and glanced at Selphie.

"What's with him?" he asked slowly with a confused look on his face.

"I don't know. He suddenly just stopped and starting staring at a picture on Myspace," she explained, watching Roxas as well. Riku peered around Roxas's shoulder and noticed the boy the blond was looking at. Looking back at Sora, he raised the other eyebrow.

"He likes cock?"

"Huh? Not to my knowledge…he likes Kairi. Unless Kairi's hiding something from us," Sora said slowly, coming up behind Riku.

"Ugh, trust me, she's not. Would you like me to prove it to you?" Selphie retorted.

"Sel, vaginas scare me," the brunet whimpered and hid behind Riku. Riku rolled his eyes and shot Selphie an amused grin, hugging his boyfriend.

"Selph, you're scaring him," he pointed out. Selphie shook her head. Roxas continued ignoring his friends, focused on the half-naked boy in front of him.

"Roxas?" Sora called out. The blond ignored him.

"Hey Roxas," Riku tried. The blond ignored him too.

"Hey Roxy!" Selphie shouted. The blue-eyed boy jumped and fell out of his chair, landing on the floor with a loud thud. He looked around in bewilderment, suddenly noticing that his friends were behind him.

"Oh, hey Selph," he said lamely. Riku snorted and rolled his eyes.

"So he only snaps out of it when Selphie calls to him?"

"What?" Roxas blinked in confusion.

"You were staring at that guy for like, 10 minutes," Riku pointed out to the blond, Sora nodding in agreement.

"What guy?" Roxas asked, reaching behind him in attempt to minimize the browser window. Riku pointed to the screen and the picture on it.

"That guy," he said flatly. "Care to explain what you found so captivating?" he said jokingly, leading Sora over to the brunet's bed and kicking Selphie onto the floor, curling up with his boyfriend.

"Nothing!" Roxas denied quickly.

"It's okay Roxy…being a cock-soldier's kinda fun," Sora said thoughtfully, leaning against Riku's chest. The silver-haired boy chuckled at the way the tanned teen put it, kissing his temple lightly. Selphie sat up from her place on the floor and crawled up onto the bed again, laying at the foot of it.

"Nothing wrong with being curious about someone who has the same body parts as you!" she exclaimed cheerfully, also rather amused by Roxas's new predicament.

"I'm not curious though…I have my own body parts," Roxas said slowly, not liking where this conversation was going. Sora began to chew on Riku's fingers lightly, noticing that there was dried ice cream on them. Riku didn't seem bothered with Sora chewing on his hand and looked at Roxas.

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd be interested either back in the day. But now look who I'm stuck with," he said rather fondly, nodding down at Sora. The brunet boy blinked and looked at his older boyfriend.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," he mumbled around Riku's fingers. The green-eyed boy blinked and shook his head.

"I'm just kidding, I'm not stuck with you. Don't be so sensitive," he teased, sticking out his tongue. Sora bit down harder just to spite him. However, Riku didn't yelp in pain like Sora thought he would. Instead, the junior let out a small groan and looked at Sora.

" …you know that felt good, right?" he informed him. Sora stared back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"…kink," he simply stated. Riku winked and snickered.

"You love it," he retorted back. Roxas blinked at his two friends and shook his head, returning to the original point.

"I'm not curious."

"Suuure you're not," Selphie drawled out, laying on her stomach and facing Roxas, who had crawled back up into Sora's desk chair.

"Well are you!" Roxas exploded, staring at the brunette feeling slightly irritated. The green-eyed girl blinked and looked at her hands.

"Maybe…" she said, quieter than before. Roxas didn't say anything for a moment, perhaps too shocked to form words for what he was thinking. "Hey, it's natural at this age!" Selphie defended herself after an awkward period of silence. Roxas threw his hands up into the air in exasperation.

"Is this the Twilight Zone? Did I take a wrong turn somewhere?" he exclaimed, feeling his head spin at all of the new knowledge he was obtaining.

"In an alternate universe, yes," Selphie answered. Roxas blinked and remembered something important.

"You have a boyfriend though." Sora looked up from Riku's hand and looked at Roxas instead.

"…and?" he prodded, not quite sure what Tidus had to do with Selphie being curious. Then again, it didn't surprise him that much that Selphie was curious about girls to begin with.

At least that would explain why Selphie liked to stare at the pretty girls.

"…" Roxas paused for a moment, knowing that he was digging himself into a deeper hole. "I thought it was a girl," he said then, nodding back at the picture on the screen.

"Bull!" Sora screamed at the same time Riku and Selphie declared "Liar".

"What?" Roxas shouted, scowling at his group of friends. Selphie leaned forward and pointed at the screen.

"With a chest **that** flat?" she asked. Roxas frowned and pointed at Selphie's own chest.

"**You're** flat!" he announced. Sora looked over at Selphie's chest curiously.

"No she's not."

"Will you stop looking?" Riku covered Sora's eyes.

"Hey!" Sora protested. Selphie pouted and scowled at Roxas.

"So I'm a late bloomer, gimme a break."

"That's okay, Selph. You're catching up," Sora replied, prying Riku's hand off of his eyes. Selphie beamed and sat up.

"Thank you, Sora. You get cookies later," she decided. The brunet's eyes widened and he smiled.

"Cookie? Cookie!" he hollered, bouncing on his bed. "Cookie cookie cooooooookie!" Riku rolled his eyes and half-glared at Selphie.

"Thanks Selph. Now you got him hyper." He shook his head. Roxas stared at Sora briefly before snorting.

"Okay, Sora's opinion doesn't count. He's just kinda retarded right now," he declared. The tanned boy gave him a flat look and stopped bouncing. Riku shifted his gaze to Roxas and raised an eyebrow.

"And you're not? You're the one that thought Axel was a girl," he reminded the blond.

"Is that his name?" Roxas countered, inwardly cursing himself for sounding so eager.

"Mmhmm."

"How do you know that?" Riku opened his mouth to answer Roxas when Sora cut him off.

"Because Axel's a big jerk!" he replied with a frown. Riku raised an eyebrow and looked down at the boy leaning against his body.

"He's not that bad. He's in some of my classes."

"Yeah well, he took my pudding," Sora grumbled. Riku stifled his laughter and ran a hand through Sora's hair.

"That savage," he said sympathetically, biting his lip to keep from laughing. Roxas closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Okay Sora, you're not helping." Selphie stretched out and tucked her legs under her, sitting so that she could face all three of the boys.

"I don't know him very well, but he seems pretty cocky," she stated.

"Cocky how?" Roxas asked, turning his attention back to Selphie.

"You know, overly-confident and whatnot."

"Why's that?"

"Why're you asking if you're not interested?" Sora questioned, pointing at Roxas accusingly. Roxas sighed and shook his head.

"I'm **not**…it's called being curious," he said, instantly regretting it when he saw a knowing grin grow on Selphie's face.

"Told you he was curious," she giggled.

"She has a point there," Riku said. Roxas sputtered and waved his arms in the air.

"Not about that! Not that kind of curious…" he trailed off, cheeks staring to go red. Sora snickered behind his hand.

"Roxy's blushing," he informed his companions. Selphie nodded slowly.

"Riiight," she said, not believing a single word that was coming out of the boy's mouth.

"Whatever you say, Roxy," Riku added.

"I'm not! I. Am. **Straight.**" He put extra emphasis on the last word, making sure he was heard loud and clear. Sora continued laughing to himself and Roxas looked up, seizing a pillow from the floor.

"Shut up!" he snapped, throwing the pillow at Sora and smacking him in the face. The other blue-eyed boy blinked and wrinkled his nose.

"Ahh! Riku, Roxas hit me!" he yelled, tugging on Riku's sleeve.

"Hit him back," Riku suggested. Sora's eyes lit up and he nodded, pausing for a moment before leaping off of the bed, tackling Roxas out of his chair and onto the floor.

"What the-get off of me!" Roxas shouted, kicking at the other boy. Riku smirked down at the pair on the floor.

"Sora don't stay on him too long, he might get excited," he taunted the blond, Selphie giggling at the sight. Roxas didn't appreciate Riku's sense of humor though and flipped him the finger.

"Sorry, there's only one person I plan on fucking." Riku smiled cheekily. Roxas opened his mouth to retort when he suddenly felt his hands slam down against the floor. Sora had pinned him flat and was now straddling him to the floor. He smiled down at Roxas calmly.

"Now…just admit that you're curious about your arrow-ism," he prodded, waiting patiently for Roxas to answer.

"Arrow-ism. That's an interesting way of putting it," Selphie stated with a laugh.

"Well it's true." Sora nodded. Roxas glared up at the smaller brunet on top of him.

"I am not curious," he repeated himself. "I just want to know why he looks like a chick," he said as an excuse.

"He doesn't look like a chick," Riku pointed out.

"No kidding," Sora agreed. "I like his hair though…" he trailed off, getting off subject.

"Well, he has girly features then," Roxas huffed. "But then again, so does Sora."

"Hey!"

"So do you," Selphie scoffed.

Roxas scoffed back. "Do not!"

"Apparently you didn't realize that you have almost exactly the same kind of build as Sora does. Therefore, if **he** has girly features, then so do you," she explained. Riku nodded once Selphie had finished.

"Actually, you do. I never really put it together, but Selphie's right. You both have girly upper-bodies and girly legs," he noted.

"And?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. Selphie let out an exasperated sigh and looked at the ceiling.

"And that means you have girly features too," she said firmly.

"Well nobody's ever told me I look like a girl!" Roxas defended himself. Sora pouted from his spot on the floor, rolling off of Roxas.

"Lucky bitch," he muttered.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing," Riku said to the brunet on the floor, reaching down and pulling on his elbow to bring him back onto the bed. Sora crawled back up next to Riku and snuggled against him.

"Yeah, I know…" he sighed softly. Selphie knew that Sora was a bit sensitive about being girly and turned the conversation back onto Roxas.

"Well, I'm telling you now. You're girly too," she said with a grin, knowing that she was getting under the blond's skin.

"Well don't bother," Roxas shot back.

"But I already did." She blinked in confusion.

"Well, I'm not curious okay? The end!" Roxas finalized, sitting upright once more. Sora stared at him doubtfully and smirked.

"Then do tell me what was poking my stomach," he demanded. Roxas blinked and shrunk back from Sora's gaze.

'_Shit.'_ He thought to himself, thinking quickly.

"My hand."

"He had your hands pinned," Selphie reminded him. Roxas tried again.

"Leg."

"Mmhmm, sure sure." Sora waved off Roxas's excuse. Riku placed his hands on Sora's stomach and held him protectively, rewarding Roxas with another strange look.

"See, now you're just making up stuff," Selphie said to Roxas, Sora giggling to himself at this.

"I am not!" Roxas protested again.

"Why don't you just admit that you're wondering what it'd be like to be with someone who has a cock already?" she countered, looking down at Roxas from her perch.

"Because it's not true!" Roxas shouted. Sora sighed and muttered something along the lines of "Just a hopeless cause". Selphie shook her head and chose to ignore Roxas for now, turning to the couple on the bed next to her.

"Which reminds me. How'd you guys know you both liked boys?" she asked, knowing very well that Roxas was going to listen whether he liked it or not. Sora played with Riku's fingers and looked up into his boyfriend's face.

"Do you wanna answer first, or shall I?" he asked.

"You go first. I wanna hear this," Riku decided, leaning back against the wall behind Sora's bed. Sora grinned widely and looked at Selphie and Roxas.

"I don't like cock," he announced proudly. "I just like Riku's for some odd reason and I don't know why…" he trailed off, blinking unsurely. Riku grinned and laughed quietly.

"I like that answer," he said to the brunet.

"…so you're just Riku-sexual?" Selphie asked him.

"Pretty much yeah." Sora shrugged. "I mean, I had a crush on Kairi for God's sake!"

"What's wrong with that?" Roxas interjected, repositioning himself back in the chair he had originally been in.

"Dude…she's like my sister," Sora said slowly.

"Incestuous feelings are never a good thing," Selphie responded.

"Sometimes she acts like she could be your mom though," Riku pointed out with a thoughtful look. "Which kinda makes it worse…"

"Ew!" Sora screamed. "Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!" Selphie paused, waiting for Sora to finish his ranting.

"It wouldn't really be incest though…" Roxas stated.

"…anyways." Selphie turned to Riku. "What about you, Riks?" she asked with a cheery smile. The silver-haired boy glanced back and forth between Sora and Roxas.

"…yeah umm, I don't know…I guess I hit puberty and was like 'yay girls' or something." He shrugged. Sora stopped his string of "ew"s and listened to what Rikuy had to say.

"Then when we had to change in the locker room for P.E. and sports, I started noticing features on boys, and I got curious," Riku continued.

"That fucking word again," Roxas muttered under his breath. The junior boy ignored the sophomore and kept telling his story.

"Then I dated this guy…for like a week, so it didn't really count. But the experience was way different than with a girl, though both types are great. I guess to summarize, I'm just not picky. I had a wider variety to choose from and got the best of both worlds," he finished up.

"So you're bi," Roxas stated rather than asked.

"Basically." Riku nodded. Sora's eyes were wide and he glanced at Riku.

"Wait, who'd you date?" he asked.

"Um…do you remember that kid in junior high…fuck I forgot his name. It was something weird like…" Riku stopped to think. Sora waited impatiently, staring at Riku intently. "Oh yeah! Zexion was his name. That guy." Riku nodded to himself.

"…you never told me that," Sora said.

"Again, it was only a week, so it doesn't really count," Riku repeated himself.

"Still, you never told me that," Sora argued back. "I'm your best friend! Even before we got together, I was your best friend! How could you not tell me that?" he exploded.

"Because I was still kind of nervous about that stuff," Riku replied.

"But now! You could have told me earlier than this, like when we got together!" Sora continued to rant.

"It was junior high damnit," Riku said sharply.

"Riku!" Sora whined. Riku stared at Sora briefly, silently wondering if his boyfriend was retarded.

"Does it really matter anymore?" he asked the brunet.

"…does what matter?" Sora blinked.

"…" Riku shook his head slowly. Selphie snickered quietly and Roxas joined in. "Never mind Sora," Riku said to his boyfriend. "You and your A.D.D." he muttered to himself.

"Your boyfriend's kinda retarded, isn't he?" Roxas said between his laughs. Riku rolled his eyes and threw his shoe at Roxas. The blond caught it and got up, walking out of the room with Riku's shoe in his hand.

"What'd I do?" Sora cried, looking at Riku with large eyes. "Huh?" Roxas soon came back into the room without Riku's shoe, sitting on the floor once more. The oldest boy sighed and laced his fingers with Sora's.

"You didn't do anything, Sor," he assured the brunet. "And you," he said, directing it to Roxas. "You better bring my fucking shoe back."

"I don't know where it is," Roxas replied with a shrug. Riku sighed dramactically and shook his head.

"Roxy, just because I figured out my sexuality and you haven't doesn't mean you have to be a bully and steal my shoe."

"I **know** my sexuality, Riku." Roxas glared.

"Right," Selphie scoffed. "Mr. 'Checking out Axel for 15 minutes.'"

"What?" Roxas exclaimed. "And it was 10!" he corrected her. He mentally kicked himself then for even admitting it.

"You're so full of it Roxas…just admit it," Sora said to him.

"No I'm not!"

"I can't really blame you though, he is pretty dreamy," Selphie said out of nowhere. Roxas blinked at her and shook his head, standing up from his spot on the floor. He walked out of the room, returned with Riku's shoe, and threw it on the bed.

"Fuck this, I'm going home," he mumbled, grabbing his backpack from the spot next to Sora's desk.

"Oh come on, Roxas. Stop being such a drama queen," Riku said to him. Roxas shouldered his bag and crossed the room.

"Roxas?" Selphie called after him uncertainly.

"Hayner and Seifer should be home by now," he muttered, opening the door to Sora's bedroom. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." And with that, he disappeared out of the room, thundering down the stairs and out the front door. Sora sighed and looked out the window, watching Roxas run down the street to his own home.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" he asked his other two companions.

"Roxas is just confused, Sora. I'm sure he'll be fine," Selphie reassured him with a smile. "Besides, it's probably shocking for him to realize that he could be potentially less than straight."

"…he's got to have some reason to deny why he would be looking at Axel," Riku pondered thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Selphie questioned the older boy.

"I mean, Roxas knows something that we don't. And we're going to find out even if it kills us," he declared. Sora nodded in agreement.

"Riku's right. We can't let Roxas stay confused forever."

"Why the hell not?" Selphie rolled onto her back.

"Selphie!" Both boys shouted.

"Okay, just kidding. But maybe we should just leave it alone for now. After all, Roxas looks ready to kill."

"Agreed." Sora nodded furiously.

"We'll see what happens over the next couple of days. In the meantime, let's just mind our own business okay?" Riku said to the two sophomores.

"Deal." They all agreed, pushing Roxas and his problems out of their minds as Selphie resumed her video game, tossing Sora a controller and offering a challenge.

* * *

"I'm home," Roxas called out glumly, not expecting to hear anything. 

"Kitchen!" the voice of Hayner, his older brother, rang out. Roxas dropped his bag by the door and wandered into the kitchen, spotting Hayner unloading a bunch of white take-out cartons.

"Hi," Roxas greeted him, poking at the cartons.

"Hey, where have you been?" Hayner asked him as he grabbed two plates, handing one to Roxas as he began opening the Chinese take-out boxes.

"Sora's," Roxas simply said. Hayner nodded and began scooping food onto his plate.

"Well, Mom and Dad won't be home until late and I don't know where Seif is, so help yourself to food," Hayner said to him. Roxas nodded and spooned a small amount of rice onto his plate, grabbing a fork from the drawer. Hayner looked at him curiously.

"Is that all you're eating?"

"Yeah, I guess," Roxas replied, forcing himself to take a mouthful of the rice and swallow it. Hayner stopped piling food onto his plate and looked at his younger brother.

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked. Roxas slammed his fork down and pushed himself away from the counter.

"Nothing, god! Just leave me alone!" he shouted before whirring past Hayner and heading for the stairs, racing into his bedroom and slamming the door shut, jumping onto his bed and slamming a pillow over his head. A few moments later he heard a knock on his door.

"Roxas? Are you okay?" Hayner called from the other side. Roxas sniffed and gathered his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he lied, hoping Hayner would just leave. The older boy got the hint and nodded despite the fact that Roxas couldn't see him.

"Okay…I'll just save you some dinner for later?"

"Whatever," Roxas mumbled and rolled over, facing his window. Hayner moved away from the door and Roxas heard his footsteps fade down the stairs, back into the kitchen. The blond sighed and stared at his wall, suddenly feeling very tired and drained of all energy. His thoughts drifted aimlessly, shuffling between Sora and Riku's relationship to Selphie's admittance of being less-than-straight to the assembly from earlier and finally back to the thing he didn't want to think about.

That boy. Axel, or whatever Riku had called him. Roxas bit his lip and curled into a ball, feeling a bit sick to his stomach.

'_What the hell is happening here? It was a guy…I shouldn't be looking at a guy like that. And besides, what about Kairi? I mean, I still like her a bit too…not that I can tell her that. Not yet anyway. Maybe the guy thing was just a fluke. Yeah, that's it!' _He decided, glancing at his computer in the corner of the room. His mind's eye brought him a picture of the boy; the spiky red hair and the bright green eyes. Roxas looked at his hands in shame, shaking his head quietly.

"I was just looking," he told himself. He closed his eyes and pulled his blanket over his head, blocking out all of the light.

"There's nothing wrong with just looking," he mumbled to himself, willing himself to go to sleep and forget about everything, just for a little while.

* * *

Woo, well, here we are with a new fic. I'm pretty excited actually. Although the beginning up until Selphie, Riku, Sora, and Roxas are going to Sora's irritates me because I lost the original eight pages. Anyhow, I'm kinda proud of this fic so far. 

Special thanks to Aps for not only editing but playing part of this out with me (she's my Riku/Selphie and eventual Axel. Hehe).

Hope you guys liked it!


	2. Displeasing the Arrow

_Chapter Two_  
**Displeasing the Arrow**

* * *

"He's looking at you again." Leon looked up from his sandwich and over to his blond boyfriend, raising an eyebrow. 

"Who?" he asked. Cloud sighed heavily and pointed across the courtyard not-so-discreetly. Leon followed Cloud's finger and his gray gaze landed on a boy sitting at a table, intently staring at Leon. Upon being discovered, the red-haired boy ducked his head and pretending to go back to his lunch. Leon sighed quietly and looked back at Cloud.

"And?" he said to Cloud, picking up his lunch again. Cloud rolled his eyes and poked at his salad.

"**And**, it's creepy. He's creepy," he retorted around a mouthful of lettuce.

"What's so creepy about him?" Leon asked. "And swallow before you answer please."

Cloud cleared his mouth of food and leaned over closer to Leon. "I'm just saying…it's weird that you have some underclassman staring at you like that. I know I would be unnerved by that."

"Well that's you, not me."

"But Leon," Cloud started to protest before the brunet slammed a hand over the blond's mouth.

"Are you stupid?" he asked rhetorically. The other boy shrugged in return. It was Leon's turn to roll his eyes. "Cloud, that's Axel," he stated, waiting to see if his boyfriend would get what he was talking about.

"Wait, wait, wait, **the** Axel?" Cloud said, albeit muffled by Leon's hand. The brunet nodded grimly and refused his hand from Cloud's mouth.

"Yep, **the** Axel. I thought I explained that to you the first time we busted him for staring."

"Nope. You told me to ignore it." Cloud nodded. Leon shrugged and looked back at Axel again.

"Well, now you know. That's Axel…he's just changed a lot, that's all. He's a lot better-looking than the last time I really got a good look at him. Let his hair grow out," he commented, smirking knowingly when Cloud's lips turned into a frown.

"Yeah well, I don't see what's so great about him," the blond grumbled, pushing a tomato slice to the side of his dish. Leon quirked an eyebrow again.

"Jealousy doesn't serve you justice, Cloud." Leon focused on his sandwich, sneaking a peek at the other boy who was fuming.

"I'm not jealous!" he insisted loudly. Somewhere behind them, the cafeteria doors burst open and Yuffie skipped over to them, plopping down in the grass in front of Leon.

"Who aren't you jealous of, Strife?" she asked, taking Leon's sandwich and biting into it.

"Supposedly, he's not jealous of Axel. And that's mine," he scolded and took back the sandwich.

"Axel? **The** Axel?" Yuffie inquired, laying on her back and using Leon's feet for a pillow.

"Why does everyone insist on referring to him as **the** Axel? Do you guys really know of another Axel?"

"What's this about Axel?" another soft-spoken voice asked from above their heads. The three teens on the ground looked up and spotted a brunette girl in a pink dress.

"Aerith, you're reasonable. Tell these two to quit referring to Axel like he's something special," Leon said, finishing off the last of his sandwich much to Yuffie's disappointment.

"Where did the topic of your ex even come up?" Aerith asked as she carefully sat on the ground in front of Cloud.

"Stupid freak keeps looking at Leon," Cloud mumbled. Aerith and Leon exchanged a look and Aerith nodded.

"Cloud, there's no reason to be jealous. Leon and Axel are over," she explained calmly. Cloud growled in frustration and pounded his fists into the ground.

"I'm not jealous! What do I have to say to get that through to you guys?" he exclaimed, handing the rest of his salad to Yuffie.

"Well you're certainly acting jealous."

"Am not!"

"Look Cloud, you are. Just face it. Although I can't see why you're jealous." Leon folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm not jealous, Leon."

"Then what the hell is your problem?"

"Axel freaks me out! Lookit him! He looks like he's ready to pounce on you in a second!" Cloud shrieked and pointed at the redhead again who was writing in his binder. Leon gave his boyfriend another look and shook his head.

"Cloud, relax. Nothing's going to happen between me and Axel. It's over," he repeated firmly. Cloud snorted and shook his head.

"Have you bothered to tell him that?" he asked, nodding forward to indicate the approaching redhead. Leon inwardly groaned and shook his head.

"Just shut up and let me talk," he murmured lowly, loosely draping an arm over Cloud's shoulders and looking up at the junior boy who stopped in front of them.

"Hey Axel," the brunet said calmly, eyeing the younger boy closely.

"Hi Leon! How've you been?" Axel chirped, green eyes sparkling suddenly. Leon couldn't help but smile slightly at the other boy's enthusiasm.

"All right. How about yourself?"

"All right," Axel replied and glanced over to Cloud. "Hey Cloud." He smirked. Cloud narrowed his eyes in return.

"Hello Axel," he said stiffly, making a point in snuggling up closer to Leon. Leon inwardly rolled his eyes and Axel's expression faltered.

"Um, anyway, just thought I'd drop by…guess I'll see ya later?" he said to Leon, confusion written across his face. Leon nodded in return.

"Take care of yourself, kid," he said, waving Axel off. The redhead turned on his heel and began marching over toward the cafeteria. Yuffie looked up at Leon from her position on his feet.

"Squall…does Axel know you're taken?" she asked, sitting in an upright position.

"First of all, it's Leon. Second of all, he **should** know," Leon replied, looking off in the direction Axel had fled.

"Well, I think he's still quite fond of you," Aerith added her own input.

"Yeah well, he just needs to back off. Didn't you dump him before summer break?" Cloud asked, leaning his head on Leon's shoulder. The brunet continued staring in the direction Axel went, not looking at his boyfriend.

"It was a mutual agreement," he said quietly. "He said he was fine with it."

"Apparently not," Yuffie cut in, also looking in the same direction Leon was. "I'm surprised you're not irritated about it."

"I don't know…I think it's kind of sweet," Aerith replied, playing with the hem of her dress.

"What the hell do you mean sweet?" Cloud sat up, staring into the face of his childhood friend. Aerith shrugged and looked up at Cloud.

"I'm just saying, he's so innocent about it."

"Trust me, Axel's **far** from innocent," Leon mumbled, finally looking back at his friends.

"But still, even saying hello to you makes him excited."

"Yeah, excited in the pants," Cloud muttered.

"Cloud!"

The blond sighed loudly. "Look guys, Axel just needs to lay off because Leon is-" he stopped then, unsure of how to finish his sentence.

'_Well…Leon's mine. Nobody's taking him away from me.'_ He completed the thought in his head.

"Told you you were jealous," Leon said to him.

"I am not!" Leon rolled his eyes and leaned forward, pressing a small kiss to the corner of Cloud's mouth.

"Well you shouldn't be because I love you," he assured him just as the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. The three seniors (and one junior) stood up and gathered their things, heading back toward the building.

"As you should," Cloud retorted, nodding his head in assurance. Leon snickered and grabbed Cloud's wrist, leading him inside.

"And I do…even if you are a total moron," he said with a smirk.

"Hey!"

* * *

"Hey Roxas?" The blond boy looked up and over to Sora who was sitting to his left. 

"What?" he asked, returning to his math assignment that was in front of him. Sora tapped his pencil on the desk nervously, biting his lip and watching the other boy.

"Are you…okay?" he asked tentatively. Roxas stopped writing out his equation and glanced at Sora again.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I mean…you kinda freaked out on us yesterday and I was just wondering…" Sora trailed off, fidgeting in his seat. Roxas sighed quietly and shook his head.

"No, everything's fine," he replied.

"I don't know…you just seem kind of sad lately," Sora observed, gnawing on the end of his pencil now. Roxas shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

"Well I'm not sad. Sorry to disappoint you," he said and looked back at his paper. He frowned when he noticed there was something wrong with his answer and started erasing it.

"But Roxas," Sora protested.

"Sora, I'm fine! Just stop asking okay?" Roxas snapped, jabbing his pencil down too hard and erasing a hole right through his paper. "Damnit," he cursed quietly, smoothing out his paper in hopes to fix it. Seeing that it was a futile attempt,after all, it was a pretty big hole, he crumpled up his paper and laid his head on his desk. "I wanna go home," he mumbled.

Sora knew that Roxas didn't mean go back to his house that was two blocks away from his own, but his hometown, Twilight Town. The blond had lived in the city for his entire life up until this past summer when his father announced that they were moving to the islands. Roxas had taken it the hardest out of all of them. When the family first arrived in the middle of July, the youngest was absolutely miserable, moody and snapping at his entire family. His parents were always out working, the only thing that **hadn't** changed since the move, and left him with his two older brothers, Hayner and Seifer. Roxas was just ready to crawl under a rock and never come out again. Then he had met Sora who lived right around the corner.

It was October now, a little over three months since Roxas had came to Destiny Islands, but Sora knew that the blond was still homesick; which was why he allowed his friend to sit there, head on his desk and eyes closed as he tried to calm himself down. Tilting his head to the side, he slowly reached out and placed a hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"You know what I think?" Sora asked, not removing his hand from Roxas.

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," Roxas mumbled. Sora nodded and massaged the other boy's shoulder gently.

"I think you just need a mental health day."

"A what?"

"A mental health day. Ya know, just kick back, relax, not use your brain for 24 hours."

"So I'm guessing every day is a mental health day for you?" Roxas smirked slightly. Sora frowned and pinched the other boy's neck.

"Very funny. But seriously, I think you should skip tomorrow and take an early weekend. You look like you could use it," he continued, pulling his hand away as Roxas lifted his head.

"Yeah well, what would I tell Seif? 'Hey Seifer, my friends think I'm going insane so I'm skipping school today'? Sora, that wouldn't work," Roxas pointed out.

"So fake sick. Duh." Sora sat back down in his seat, turning sideways to look at the other blue-eyed boy.

"I don't think I can do that. Seif's too smart."

"What about Hayner?"

"…I didn't even think of that," Roxas said slowly, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

"Think Hayner would fall for it?" Sora questioned, closing his math book all together. Roxas shrugged in response.

"I don't know. I guess I could try it."

"You should. Me and Riku are skipping out tomorrow too."

"Your parents will let you?" Roxas looked up in surprise. Sora nodded and began packing up his school bag.

"Of course. My mom's into the whole 'fulfill yourself before others' policy and Riku's doing so well in school his parents don't give a rip if he skips or not. You should hang out with us tomorrow at my place. My mom's working and already said that Riku could be over. I don't think she'd mind if you were there too, she likes you," Sora finished up. Roxas threw the last of his materials into his bag and looked up at Sora.

"I'll think about it," he replied just as the bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period. Grabbing his bag from the floor, he slung it over his shoulder as Sora followed him out of the classroom.

"I'm serious, Rox. You need a break. You're going to burn yourself out," he said to his friend as he fell in step beside the blond. Roxas sighed loudly and shook his head.

"Sora, remember what your mom said about fulfilling yourself before others?"

"Yeah?"

"Take her advice and shut up. I'll see you tomorrow." Roxas turned into his biology classroom, leaving Sora standing out in the hall.

"Cranky." He shook his head and continued making his way down the hall.

"Yo, Flameboy!" a voice shouted from Sora's left. Sora glanced over and cringed. Without warning, he saw a flash of silver whip by him and the next thing he knew he found himself squished into an open locker. He stared into the grinning face of a girl with short silver hair and pale skin. Standing behind her stood a taller boy with blond hair hidden under a black beanie. To the side stood another boy with an identical smirk.

"Well Fag, you didn't even put up a fight this time. I'm impressed," the blond leader said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Never gets old, does it Seifer?" the brunet asked rhetorically from inside the locker.

"Of course not. Seifer says you totally deserve it ya know?" Raijin chipped in.

"Anyway, hope you enjoy your stay. Fuu?" Seifer beckoned the silver-haired girl. Fujin stepped forward and shoved Sora's arms over his head, shutting the locker door in his face and locking him in.

"Thanks for playing," Seifer said and the three seniors laughed, walking away down the hall. The warning bell rang for fifth period and Sora sighed, shifting in his position. Reaching down into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small silver flip phone that his mother had given him for his 15th birthday. Pressing down speed dial 2, he leaned back against the locker wall and waited.

"Yeah?" the boy answered on the other end of the line.

"Riku…are you busy?" Sora asked sheepishly, laughing slightly. He could visualize Riku rolling his eyes and standing up from his position at the front of the classroom. After all, he was a TA this period.

"Where you at?"

"Locker in the 400 hallway."

"I'll be right there," Riku sighed before hanging up. Sora hung up and smiled to himself.

"At least I'm lucky enough to have a boyfriend like Riku," he mused to himself, leaning back even further. Suddenly he felt something sticky on the back of his neck and cringed.

"Yuck! Used gum!" he shrieked and pulled away, thrashing around inside the locker peeling gum off of his neck while trying to keep his footing.

Out in the hallway, Riku heard all of the commotion down at the end of the hall and jogged forward, stopping outside of a locker that was thumping about.

"Sora?" he called out curiously. The thrashing stopped suddenly.

"Riku…there's gum in here and it smells like old feet." Riku rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I'll be back with a janitor," he grumbled and walked away, heading off to find somebody to release his boyfriend from his metal prison.

* * *

"Why don't we ever go shopping?" Selphie asked, leaning against her desk and facing the girl on her right. Kairi looked up from the magazine she was reading. Sixth period study hall always meant extra reading time for Kairi. 

"What?"

"Why don't we ever go shopping?" the brunette repeated. Kairi closed her October edition of Cosmo!Girl and faced her childhood friend.

"You don't like shopping, Sel," Kairi said.

"Says who?"

"You fight with numchucks."

"And?" Selphie prodded. Kairi shrugged and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.

"I'm just saying, you're like the most non-girly girl I know. I never really pictured you to be one to like shopping, that's all."

"Well, I like it. The end."

"I didn't know that…" Kairi trailed off, looking at her friend curiously.

"Well, I didn't expect you to. You spend all of your time with Naminé," Selphie grumbled to herself. Kairi still heard her however and sighed.

"That's not fair, Selph."

"What?"

"You can't blame me for hanging out with Naminé. After all, you spend a lot of your free time with Tidus anyway!"

"Yeah, but that's different!" Selphie argued back.

"How so?" Kairi challenged her.

"Tidus and I are actually dating," the green-eyed girl retorted.

"And Naminé and I aren't?" Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"No," Selphie scoffed but quickly looked at Kairi in shock upon comprehending the words. "Wait, are you?" she asked with wide eyes. Kairi giggled behind her hand and shook her head.

"Of course not, silly. I was just saying that to see what you'd do," she said. Selphie blinked at her momentarily and slowly nodded.

"Right, I knew that," she assured the red-head, suddenly feeling confused. She examined her friend closely, taking in the way she reached into her bag and pulled out a tube of lip gloss, spreading a thin even layer on her lips and rubbing them together. The shine of the gloss fascinated Selphie, causing her to focus on Kairi's lips for a few moments longer. She suddenly shook her head and sat back.

'_What the hell, Selph? Remember, it's just a tiny crush. Tiny! Almost miniscule. Like…it shouldn't even be a problem. Besides, you've got Tidus remember?'_ she mentally scolded herself before realizing that Kairi was talking to her.

"-do something." Selphie caught the last part of the blue-eyed girl's sentence.

"Sorry, what?" she asked, blinking at Kairi. The redhead sighed and shook her head, smiling still.

"I said, what are you doing tonight? We can go hang out and do something," she repeated herself. Selphie nodded and looked up at the clock, noticing that they had half of the period left.

"Well, I have to work tonight…but you can swing by the shop and we can go out from there?" she suggested.

"Okay sure, what time are you off?" Kairi asked her, opening her magazine back up.

"Seven or so," Selphie replied as she opened her binder, doodling on a blank sheet of paper. Kairi nodded and smiled again.

"Perfect. I'll be there."

"Great," Selphie replied, looking back down at her paper with a satisfied smile on her face.

'_It's about time I got some time with her.' _She nodded and suppressed a giggle, going back to drawing stick people.

* * *

The clock on the wall read 6:50 in the evening and Selphie was more anxious than ever to get out of there. Usually she enjoyed her job; after all, it was Baskin-Robins. But today, she just wanted her shift to end so that she could go out and have some fun. She looked up from her position behind the counter when she heard the bell chime and she smiled upon seeing Kairi walk into the building. Her smile suddenly turned into a confused frown when she noticed Naminé follow in after her. Kairi walked up to the counter and leaned against it, smiling at Selphie brightly. 

"Hey, you ready?" she asked, not noticing that Selphie was shooting Naminé small glares every now and then. Selphie looked at the red-haired girl and nodded.

"Yeah, hang on," she said and headed into the back room, hanging up her apron and grabbing her sweatshirt. Yelling a quick goodbye to her boss, she jumped over the counter and stood by Kairi's side. "So where are we going?" she inquired as she slipped on her yellow hoodie. Kairi beckoned for Naminé to follow and she led the other two girls outside.

"I don't know. I was thinking we could do a movie, or the mall, or even just grabbing some pizza or something." She shrugged.

"I suppose it's up to Selphie since she's hardly around anymore," Naminé said with a playful smile. Selphie nodded and smiled at Naminé as well as she could without it seeming forced.

"Pizza sounds fine to me," she replied. Kairi nodded and began walking down the street toward the nearest pizza parlor, Naminé quickly following her. Selphie followed behind at a slightly slower pace, watching her two friends closely. The two other girls were laughing over something Naminé had said, something that Selphie hadn't caught. The brunette tilted her head and slipped her hands into her front pocket thoughtfully.

'_Is this what's happened since Tidus and I started dating? My friends formed a tighter friendship and left me out? What the hell? That's totally unfair! Just because Tidus and I formed something special doesn't mean that I didn't want to keep my friends special too! I mean honestly, where'd Naminé even come from? She's a freshman! But so's Tidus…oh, it's not fair! I thought tonight would be just me and Kairi! Then again, what was I really expecting? A date? Yeah, right. Besides, how would I explain that one to Tidus?' _She sighed quietly and looked up, noticing that Naminé had already gone inside and that Kairi was standing at the door waiting for her.

"C'mon Sel!" she hollered. "It's cold and I'm hungry!" Selphie laughed and jogged up the street, joining her friend at the door.

"Kai, you're a wimp. It's not cold out," she said to the blue-eyed girl. Kairi snorted and nodded toward Selphie's attire.

"Says she who's wearing a sweatshirt," she said, gesturing to her own t-shirted body. Selphie raised an eyebrow and frowned slightly when she noticed that Kairi was shivering.

"Want it?" Selphie offered, already halfway out of the yellow hoodie.

"No Selph, it's okay, really," Kairi started to protest before she felt a bundle of cloth land in her arms. Blinking down at the sweatshirt, she looked at Selphie questioningly, who was now only wearing her white button-down uniform short-sleeve shirt.

"Well? Are you going to put it on or not?" Selphie asked impatiently, watching Kairi closely. The other girl nodded slowly and stepped forward, taking her hand off of the door to slip it on.

And as Selphie's hand brushed against Kairi's to grab the door, the brunette felt a spark go off somewhere inside, causing her to usher the redhead inside quickly before she saw the small look of wonder on her face.

* * *

The next morning, Roxas's alarm clock went off and he grunted, rolling over to bury his face into his pillows. Realizing that the annoying beep wouldn't go away on its own, he reached out and slammed a fist down on top of the clock, plunging the room into silence. Roxas yawned quietly and blinked sleepy eyes at the clock, taking in the blurry green numbers that read 6:30am. He really didn't feel like moving just yet; he was still tired and slightly disoriented, not to mention he forgot to finish his Advanced Algebra homework after yesterday's incident with the ripped paper. 

It was then that Roxas suddenly remembered something Sora had said to him yesterday.

'_I think you just need a mental health day.'_ The brunet's words echoed in his mind briefly before fading away completely. Roxas lay there for a moment, pondering the tanned boy's advice.

"A mental health day," he mumbled to himself, snuggling down into his blankets again. "Maybe Sora's right for once…maybe I do need to just relax…" he trailed off, closing his eyes again. It wasn't long before he drifted back to sleep, curled up contently with his pillow and covers pulled up around his head.

He hadn't slept for very long before a loud knock rang out on his door, followed by Hayner's voice.

"Roxas, get up! You're going to be late!" he announced, opening the door to his younger brother's room. The younger blond groaned and opened his eyes, staring at the clock that now read seven am. He still didn't feel like moving from his bed and he peered out at Hayner from under his blankets, contemplating his next move.

'_Fake sick, duh.'_ Sora's advice rang through his head again before disappearing into nothingness. Roxas nodded and did his best to look absolutely pathetic.

"Hayner, I don't feel very good," he all but whimpered, staring up at his brother with wide puppy eyes. A flash of concern swept across Hayner's face and he crouched down so that he was eye-level with Roxas.

"What's the matter?" he asked. Roxas blinked up at him sadly.

"I have a stomachache…and I think I have a fever," he said quietly. Hayner reached out and felt Roxas's forehead, frowning slightly.

"Well, you do feel a little warm…" he said, standing up to his original height. Roxas nodded slightly but was cheering inside.

'_Heh, sucker! I can't believe he fell for it!'_ He thought to himself as Hayner rubbed the top of his head.

"Well, you just rest okay? I'll tell the front office that you stayed home sick today," Hayner said, still rubbing Roxas's scalp.

'_What am I, a dog?'_ He inwardly rolled his eyes but nodded on the outside.

"Okay…" he sighed, snuggling up to his pillow again and closing his eyes. Hayner grinned and headed toward the door, stopping before he walked out.

"Hey Roxas?" he called. Blue eyes opened slightly and peered out at the older boy.

"Yeah?" Roxas replied. Hayner stood in the doorway, arms over his chest and smirking at the younger boy.

"Nice try." Roxas's face fell and he sat up, not caring that his hair was a tangled mess and his blankets had fallen off of his shoulders.

"Aw man! You knew?" he cried, shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Of course. You might be a good actor, but you **never** want to stay home sick. You're always stubborn about it" Hayner stepped back into the room, sitting on the bed next to his brother. "So, what's your real excuse for wanting to stay home?" Roxas sighed and yawned widely, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"Sora thinks I need a mental health day," he explained. Hayner nodded and regarded the younger boy thoughtfully. He took in the sight of the sleepy teen with circles under his eyes and limp hair.

"Well, maybe Sora's right," he decided, running a hand through his brother's hair.

"Huh?"

"Stay home," Hayner said, waving a hand in the air. "I'll tell Seif you're not feeling well and we'll leave it at that. Take the day off, you've been working hard lately anyway."

Roxas's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. "Seriously?"

"Sure. Just make sure that if you leave the house, be back here before 4:30. That's when Seifer gets home." Hayner shrugged. Roxas's face split into a wide grin and he leaned against Hayner's shoulder affectionately.

"Have I ever said that you're completely awesome?"

"Yeah, but I don't hear it enough," Hayner replied and shoved the boy away, standing up again. "Now hurry up and go back to sleep. This is probably the last day off you get until Christmas break." He crossed the room and headed for the door once again. Following his "orders", Roxas covered himself back up and looked at Hayner.

"Hayn?"

"Hmm?"

"…thanks." Roxas closed his eyes again. Hayner smiled and shut the door behind him, leaving his little brother to his rest.

* * *

Roxas woke up later to the sound of the phone ringing. With another quick glance to the clock, he noticed that it was now 10 am and that the phone wasn't going to answer itself. Reaching over to his bedside table, he picked up the black cordless phone. 

"Hello?" he answered with a yawn, running a hand through his hair.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" Sora's voice rang out from the other end with a laugh.

"Mmh…hey Sor. How'd you know I was home?"

"Cause Kairi called us earlier and said that you hadn't shown up for school either."

"Yeah…Hayner let me stay home."

"Fun. Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah, basically. How can you tell?" Roxas chuckled and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to touch the cold bare floor.

"You still sound out of it. But once you pull yourself together, you should come over," Sora said to him. Roxas could hear the sound of Riku cursing at something or other in the background.

"Riku's already there?"

"Actually, he just spent the night here."

"What's he mad about?"

"I hit him in the ass with the remote control," Sora stated seriously. Roxas snorted at this, knowing that as ridiculous as it sounded, it was something Sora would do.

"I'm not going to ask…"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Sora laughed. "But seriously, come over. Riku and I ended up renting movies last night and we're ordering pizza in an hour or so." Roxas glanced at the clock again, reading the numbers 10:07.

"Gimme about 15 minutes and I'll be there."

"Kay, see ya then Roxy!"

"Bye Sora," Roxas replied and rolled his eyes at the use of the nickname, hanging up the phone. He rose from his bed, standing in the middle of the room and stretching his arms over his head, bending backwards to stretch out those muscles as well. Swinging his arms back and forward a few times to get the feeling back in them, Roxas grabbed some clothes from on top of a clean pile of laundry and shuffled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

15 minutes and a shower later, Roxas found himself on Sora's doorstep. He jabbed in the doorbell with his thumb, listening for any signs of the other two boys. He heard feet running toward him and it wasn't long until Sora flung the door open in his face, a wide grin on his face.

"Hey, about time!" he said, practically dragging Roxas into the house. Nearly losing his foot, the blond followed the brunet into the house and into the living room where Riku was watching some episode of Family Guy. The silver-haired boy looked up briefly and nodded.

"Hey Rox," he greeted the blue-eyed boy and went back to the TV.

"Yo. What's going on?" Roxas returned the greeting and flopped down on the couch next to the green-eyed boy. Riku snorted and nodded toward Sora.

"Genius here forgot where he put our movies from yesterday," he explained. Sora grinned and looked up at the TV. A smile crossed his lips and he jumped up, standing next to the TV.

"Hey, I know what'll cheer ya up," Sora said to Riku at the same time Brian said it on the screen.

"Oh god," Riku muttered under his breath. Sora grinned wider and started dancing in time with the white dog on the screen and singing at the top of his lungs.

"It's peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, where he at, where he at, where he at, where he at, now there he go, there he go, there he go, there he go, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly," the brunet sang as he continued to dance. Roxas snickered under his breath and Riku rolled his eyes.

"Sora, just stop," he commanded. The blue-eyed boy blinked and looked at Riku blankly before a smirk crossed his lips. He took a deep breath and sang even louder.

"Do the peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat! Peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly, peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!" he giggled as he moon-walked over toward Riku, dropping down into his lap. Riku looked at his boyfriend briefly before shaking his head sadly.

"You're so damn weird," he said before kissing him on the nose. Sora wrinkled his nose and grinned.

"Yeah, but you love it."

"Suppose."

"You guys are sad," Roxas said from his place on the couch, not tearing his eyes away from the TV screen. Sora looked over at Roxas from his position on Riku's lap.

"Why?" he chirped, tilting his head slightly.

"Look at you two. You're all over each other and it's not even 11am yet," he pointed out as the ending credits for Family Guy rolled onto screen.

"Jealous?" Riku asked, playing with a strand of Sora's hair.

"Not in the slightest," Roxas retorted. Sora looked at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"I think you are," he said quietly. Roxas whipped his head around and looked at the brunet.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, staring into blue eyes heatedly. Sora shrugged and remained unfazed by Roxas's defensive manner.

"I'm just saying, I think you're sad that you're alone."

Roxas blinked in surprise at this. "Alone? Who said anything about being alone?"

"Well, you're single," Riku pointed out.

"So?"

"And it's obvious that you don't want to be," Sora finished up.

"How is that so obvious? I'm perfectly fine being single," Roxas argued, changing the channel on the TV. Sora shook his head and grabbed the remote from the blond.

"Roxas, I think you're the loneliest person I've ever met," he stated, looking his friend in the eye.

"Why's that?"

"Look at yourself…you're miserable being on the islands, you're single,"

"And none of that makes me lonely," Roxas cut him off quickly. "Sora, I know you're trying to…help and I appreciate it…I think, but just drop it. I'm not lonely. Besides, when I have the entire female population to play with, who says I have to be lonely?"

"Rox, there's a difference between having playthings and having a real relationship," Riku rejoined the conversation.

"And you don't think I know this because?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. Riku shrugged and took the remote from Sora, changing the channel again.

"I'm just saying, obviously you haven't found that one special person that you just click with, so you have no idea what Sora and I are talking about."

"Have too!" Roxas insisted.

"Who?" Sora asked, yanking the remote away from Riku. "Stop changing the channel!"

"Kairi," Roxas answered. Riku and Sora stared at the blond quietly before answering him.

"Nu-uh," they said simultaneously.

"What do you mean no?" he cried, staring at his friends in disbelief.

"Rox, you've got a crush. There's a difference between a crush and full-blown love," Riku explained.

"Well, give it time, she'll be mine shortly."

"What about Axel?" Sora reminded him.

"…who?"

"Axel. Y'know, the boy you were ogling at for a good 10 minutes Wednesday," Riku said with a smirk. Roxas glared at the green-eyed boy in return.

"Okay, **that** was just a fluke. Just because I was looking at the guy doesn't mean I'm like, in love with him or something."

"It's just the fact that you were looking at him like that, Roxas. Straight men don't do that."

"Ugh, can we **not** talk about this?" Roxas groaned, burying his face in a couch pillow.

"Why, because you know we're right?" Sora grinned and got off of Riku's lap.

"No because you guys don't know what you're talking about either," the blond mumbled. Riku raised an eyebrow.

"…yeah, two guys that have been dating for a year know nothing about homosexuality. **That** makes a lot of sense."

"I don't wanna talk about it though!" Roxas whined. "It was nothing! I swear if I saw that guy again I wouldn't give him a second glance!"

"You say that now, but would you really when the time came?" Sora asked rhetorically as he walked over to the phone, dialing the number for the nearest Domino's.

"Probably."

"We'll just have to see about that," Riku teased him. Roxas sat up and smacked Riku in the face with the pillow. "Hey!"

"Hah, serves you right," Roxas declared, laying back on his side. He felt something jabbing him in the side and he sat up. "What the hell?" He reached into the couch and pulled out a DVD case, along with two others. Riku snatched the movies and set them on the coffee table.

"**That's** where they went!" he exclaimed. Sora hung up the phone and looked over to where Riku was pointing. A sheepish grin crossed his face and he laughed.

"Must have dropped them in the couch while we were…yeah," he said. Roxas's right eye twitched.

"Ew."

"No, it wasn't anything bad!" Sora protested immediately. "Just making-out."

"…still. Who **knows** what you two have done on this couch."

"Would you settle for each other?" Riku snickered as he watched Roxas's face change into a look of horror.

"Gross!" he yelped, jumping off of the couch and landing on the floor. "You better be joking!"

"Oh don't worry, we are," Riku assured him. Sora shot him a questioning look.

"We are?"

"Yes, we are," Riku muttered forcefully. Sora got the hint and nodded.

"Yep, we are." He grinned all-too-enthusiastically. Roxas shuddered again and moved from the couch.

"Gross guys…just…gross."

"Hey, just because our sex-lives are more interesting than yours," Riku started to say before Roxas covered his ears and closed his eyes.

"La-la-la, I can't hear you!"

"Roxas…"

"Still can't hear you!"

"Roxas, we've probably done it on the floor a few times too," Sora cut in.

"Gah! Why can't you just do it in a bed like normal people?"

"That's boring, duh."

"You guys are disturbing."

"Hey, don't knock it til ya try it." Riku shrugged, pulling Sora back down on top of him.

"…ew," was all Roxas could say and the couple next to him laughed, sorting through the DVDs on the table.

"What movie, Rox?" Sora asked as he pointed to the three in front of them. Roxas finally opened his eyes and looked down at the cases on the table.

"I've been wanting to see Red Eye for a while," he said.

"Then we'll watch Red Eye," Riku decided just as the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here!" Sora shouted and sprang out of Riku's lap, darting to the door with a $20 in his hand. He came back shortly carrying two boxes of pizza and three cans of soda on top.

"So is the movie in?" he asked Riku, who was kneeling in front of the TV fiddling with the DVD player.

"Yeah, there," the silver-haired boy replied as he stepped away from the TV, switching the channel until the screen showed the previews before the movie. Roxas glanced at a chair behind him and then back at the boys.

"Is the chair safe or did you guys do it in that too?" he asked dryly, picking up a slice of pizza from the box.

"Nah, it's too small," Sora replied. Roxas nodded in a satisfied manner and crawled into the chair with his lunch, watching the beginning credits roll. Riku looked at the chair Roxas was sitting in and a thought occurred to him.

"Hey Sora? Didn't you suck me off in that same chair?" he said loud enough for Roxas to hear, knowing that even though it wasn't true (yet) it would get under the other boy's skin.

"Goddamn guys!" Roxas yelled before sliding onto the floor again, leaving the two other boys to laugh and watch the movie.

* * *

The rest of Roxas's Friday was spent at home watching TV and playing video games until 4:30 in the morning. Saturday rolled around slowly and the blond once again found himself in the den watching Saturday morning cartoons, eating a blue popsicle at 11am. He was just beginning to solve who was behind Scooby Doo's latest mystery when the doorbell rang. Roxas continued slurping on his popsicle and watching TV, figuring somebody else would answer the door. The doorbell rang again shortly after that. Grumbling to himself, Roxas got off of the couch and stomped out into the front hall, ripping open the front door. 

"What do you want?" he mumbled around the blue stick in his mouth. The red-haired boy on the other side of the door blinked, sending the shorter boy an amused smile. Roxas looked up suddenly and felt his eyes widen at the sight of the boy from Myspace standing on his front porch.

"You must be Roxas," the older boy said. Roxas nodded dumbly, popsicle still in his mouth. "Well, I'm Axel," the redhead formally introduced himself. Again, Roxas nodded dumbly. "So you've heard of me?" Axel raised an eyebrow. Roxas nodded again before suddenly realizing what Axel said. He quickly pulled the popsicle out of his mouth and shook his head.

"Well no, I mean yeah, kinda. My friends know youre name and so I heard it from them and uh, yeah," he rambled, mentally kicking himself for it.

'_Way to go, you moron. You just sounded like a total idiot.'_ He berated himself as he replaced the popsicle where it belonged. Axel paused for an awkward moment before laughing it off.

"Well, that's interesting. Hey, is your brother home?" he changed the subject. Roxas blinked and came back to reality.

"What?" he asked. Axel opened his mouth to repeat himself when he noticed something.

"Um…you're kinda dripping there," he pointed out. Roxas raised an eyebrow and glanced over to the mirror hanging on his right. His popsicle had been left sitting there by itself for a short time, enough to cause a little trail of blue-colored drool to drip down his chin. Ripping the popsicle away again, he quickly wiped the spit off with his sleeve and looked at Axel's feet.

"Thanks…" he said, unsure of what else could have been said. Axel nodded and leaned against the doorframe.

"So, is your brother home?" he repeated his question from early.

"Which one?"

"Seifer," the green-eyed junior replied. Roxas inwardly groaned and shook his head.

'_Just my luck. He's friends with the brother that doesn't like me.' _

"So…he's not home?" Axel asked him. Roxas looked up suddenly and stared at Axel.

"Um, yeah, he is. He's, uh, upstairs. Second room on the left side," he informed the older boy. Axel nodded and stepped away from the door, entering the house.

"Thanks," he said and headed for the stairway. Roxas nodded and turned to go back to the den, possibly to hide until Axel was gone and he couldn't embarrass himself any further.

"Hey, Roxas" Axel called out to him. The blond stopped in his tracks and looked back at the other boy on the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to say, **love** those dinosaur boxers," Axel said with a smirk before turning and jogging up the stairs. Roxas gave the retreating boy a confused look, scratching his head and pondering how Axel knew. He looked down then and squeaked, covering his mouth with his hand.

He forgot to put pants on before answering the door.

"Great…obviously somebody up there is mad at me," he grumbled to himself, turning again to walk back into the den. He turned too soon however and smacked right into the wall, bumping his nose against the corner quite hard. He heard laughter from behind him and groaned, shaking his head and racing back into the den.

It was official: he was definitely hiding for the rest of the day. Maybe even for the rest of his life.

* * *

And chapter two is completed. This is probably the fastest I've updated in...well, ever. I'm really surprised with myself, hah. You can tell I love writing this fic. 

Thanks to: **Dreamcrafter**, Demolition Lovers, **Shibby**, inoku, **kmwsweetness**, XxXChainsXxX, **anonymous**, JohnneyAntonelli, **Dysfunctional Space Angel**, and Meggan for reviewing the last chapter.

And as usual, extra big thank you hugs and kisses for April for editing this. And HAH! Told you I could finish the entire thing so quickly. Hehe.

Hope you guys liked it!


	3. Wishing Against the Arrow

_Chapter Three_  
**Wishing Against The Arrow**

* * *

"Are you okay?" Selphie turned away from the TV screen and glanced up at the boy whom she was leaning on. Tidus looked down at her, watching her critically. 

"Yeah, totally," she replied, sitting up and lifting her head from Tidus's shoulder. The two were in the middle of their Saturday night tradition of dinner and a movie; Tidus had brought over the fixings to make nachos and Selphie had popped _Yours, Mine, and Ours _into the DVD player. The movie itself was slightly dull though so Tidus had resorted to looking at his girlfriend, studying her quietly up until he spoke. Selphie continued looking at him curiously. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You just seem…distant," the sandy-haired boy replied quietly, blue eyes reflecting with concern, curiosity, and…love? Selphie looked away, unable to keep her eyes locked onto his.

"What makes you say that?" she asked again, turning back toward the movie. Tidus shrugged, shifting the arm that was under Selphie's body and stroking her side lightly.

"I don't know. You just…do. Are you sure everything's okay?" he replied.

"Tidus, I swear, if something was wrong, you'd be the first person to know," the brunette assured the freshman boy, still not looking him in the eye. Tidus nodded slowly and looked away, facing the TV once more.

"If you say so."

"And I do," Selphie finalized and nodded, praying that Tidus didn't notice that she was lying through the skin of her teeth. The blue-eyed boy remained silent, watching the movie almost too-intently. Selphie sighed quietly and rested her head back on Tidus's shoulder, unsure of what to do now.

'_Well, way to go Selphie. You've managed to lodge yourself between a rock and a hard place…or something. Question is, who's the rock and who's the hard place? Oh forget it, you just need to figure out what the hell you're going to do! It's obvious that your little tiny miniscule crush on Kairi is not going to go away on its own like you thought it would. Plus you're still in a relationship with Tidus. Have been for the past almost four months. Think about what you'd be doing to him!'_ She stopped her train of thought, glancing back at her boyfriend who had his eyes closed now. She could tell that he was still awake though.

'_Think about these past four months. Think about everything Tidus has done for you. The kid's done nothing but provide love and affection for you every day since you first met. Do you really want to throw all of that away? Just for something that might be a fluke? Besides, you were with Tidus before you decided to try out bisexuality. Shouldn't you stay with him? Great, I have no idea what to do. Either way, one of us is going to get hurt and that's not going to help.'_ She growled slightly and Tidus opened his eyes, staring at her blankly. She blinked up at him and sat up.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked quietly, slightly unnerved by Tidus's stare. The boy shook his head sadly, continuing to stare at Selphie silently.

"It's just…" he paused for a moment, looking deeply into her eyes. The green-eyed girl squirmed a bit, growing more uncomfortable as time went on. Tidus looked away again, glancing up at the clock on the wall. "It's almost like you're hiding something from me. Did I do something wrong?" he questioned her, a small flash of hurt flickering onto his face. Selphie felt her resolve start to crumble, guilt beginning to eat away at her.

"Tidus, don't say that," she said immediately. "I promise that you didn't do anything; everything's fine."

"But Selphie," Tidus started to argue.

"No. It's fine," she repeated herself, turning Tidus's face back toward her and brushing her lips against his lightly. "I promise."

Tidus looked at her with that same unreadable look, contemplating whether to speak or not. He suddenly removed Selphie's head from his shoulder gently, pushing himself off of the couch. "I should go," he mumbled, heading toward the front door. Selphie looked after him in alarm and shot off of the couch as well, scurrying after him.

"Wait, Tidus!" she exclaimed, joining him in the front hall. Tidus's hand lingered on the doorknob of the front door, staring down at his hand rather than meeting Selphie's eyes.

"Sel, obviously there are some things you want to think about. I'm just freeing up your time." He shrugged, glancing back at her with a small grin. "I'll just talk to you Monday okay?"

"But-"

"Just…call me if you want to talk about something. You know I'll listen no matter what," he cut her off again, opening the front door and stepping out into the brisk autumn night air.

"How are you getting home?" Selphie changed the subject. The sandy-blond boy slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, shrugging again.

"Walk."

Selphie's eyes widened. "But you live on the other end of town!"

"A little walking never hurt anybody." He moved down off of the front porch and headed down the front walk.

"It's cold out though! You'll get sick!"

"Bye Selph…" He waved one last time before turning to the right, heading down the street and disappearing into the night. The brunette stood on her front porch, watching her boyfriend walk away from her, getting smaller and smaller until she couldn't see him anymore. She sighed loudly and trudged back into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Damn," she cursed to herself and headed upstairs, leaving the DVD player running and the leftovers from dinner sit out on the table.

* * *

"You know what I don't like?" Seifer asked, leaning against his locker with Raijin and Fujin on either side of him. 

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell us," Axel retorted, slamming his own locker closed after retrieving his materials for first period Chemistry that Monday morning. The red-head idly wondered how Seifer managed to worm his way into their group, or rather, how he managed to take it over. Rai and Fuu weren't too terrible before Seifer took charge, making them his lackeys. Sometimes he secretly questioned if he was the only sane one left.

Seifer threw his head forward, indicating a pair of boys standing at the other end of the hall, the smaller brunet being held in place by the silver-haired boy's hands as they talked, leaning their foreheads against one another. The tanned boy stood on his toes and planted a kiss onto the older's lips before smiling cheerfully and walking away, a bit of a bounce in his step.

"Fags," Seifer spat out, shuddering in disgust. Raijin and Fujin nodded in agreement, their own looks of disgust in tact. Seifer glanced over at Axel. "What do you think?" he questioned the green-eyed junior.

Truthfully, Axel thought the display was kind of cute. He recognized the silver-haired boy from his first period class, Riku or something like that. He couldn't remember the little brunet's name but he knew that he was Silver's best friend, not to mention his boyfriend. He remembered times when Leon would hold him like that; not very often, just because he was Leon, but Axel treasured the times that he did.

Now though…now Leon had Cloud and the blond senior seemingly had the other boy wrapped around his finger. When Leon and Axel were together, Leon never allowed for PDAs as Axel called them, Leon made sure to call them public displays of affection. Now the brunet could be seen outside cuddling discreetly with the blue-eyed boy or sharing a brief kiss before parting ways.

Oh how Axel envied Cloud.

"Axel…" Seifer said stiffly, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. "What do you think?" Axel quickly faked his own look of disgust.

"Yeah, totally gross," he replied half-heartedly, hoping that the blond didn't pick up on his reluctant tone. After all, the other three didn't even know that he swung that way and there was no way he was going to tell them **now**. Seifer accepted this answer and nodded proudly.

"My younger brother is friends with those two," he said casually, watching as Riku walked down the hall and entered his first period classroom, the same one Axel shared. Raijin looked at Seifer in fear.

"But aren't you worried about him being around them? Monkey see, monkey do, ya know," he said. Seifer shrugged and smirked slightly.

"Nah, Roxas knows better. I've been teaching him not to get involved in that shit," he replied. Axel frowned at this, feeling a small pang of disappointment.

'_Such a shame that he has a brother like Seifer. He's actually pretty cute.'_ Axel admitted to himself, turning his attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Doubt it." Fujin said.

"Oh trust me, he will." Seifer nodded assuredly. Axel opened his mouth to protest but suddenly the bell for first period rang. Inwardly sighing in relief, Axel shifted his bag on his shoulder and turned.

"I'm out, see ya guys later!" he said quickly and made his escape, practically racing into his classroom and throwing his bag down on the floor by his desk. He slid into his seat and looked to his left where Riku sat scrawling out the last few answers on their homework sheet.

"You didn't finish either?" Axel said, pulling out his own unfinished worksheet. Riku shook his head and calculated a few numbers.

"Didn't have time, seriously," the silver-haired boy responded as he jotted down his answer.

"Oh? And what were you doing last night?" A smug grin crossed Axel's lips. Riku rolled his eyes and closed up his book, setting his homework on top of it.

"Like it's really any of your business, Axel."

"No, not really. But I mean, I could probably guess what you were doing anyway." Riku looked up at the redhead and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really now," he said, giving Axel a suspicious look. "So do, praytell, explain to me what exactly I was doing last night."

"That little brunet you're always with," Axel replied with another self-assured grin. Riku's expression faltered briefly before slipping back into his cool façade.

"First of all, the little brunet's got a name. It's Sora. Secondly, what business is it of yours if I **was** doing Sora last night?"

"You didn't though, I can tell." Axel shrugged, doodling on his homework.

"…okay fine, so I didn't. But-"

"You were with him, I know."

"You know a lot, don't you?"

"Psh, more than you'd think," Axel retorted. Riku opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly saw a flash of blond near the doorway. The silver-haired boy turned his head and his eyes locked onto Roxas, who was waving him over. Riku sighed and got out of his seat, shuffling toward the door of the classroom.

"What?" Riku asked, slightly suspicious of why the blond boy was there. Roxas reached into his pocket and pulled out a white piece of paper.

"Message from your bitch," Roxas said with a small smirk, thrusting the note under Riku's nose.

"Gimme that," the aqua-eyed boy snapped as he snatched the note away quickly. "Shouldn't you be in class?" he suddenly asked. Roxas shrugged nonchalantly.

"It doesn't really matter I suppose, it's just Creative Writing," he said in return, scanning around the room briefly. His eyes slowly landed on Axel, staring at the teen for a brief moment. Axel stiffened up, feeling as though someone were watching him. He looked up from Riku's homework that he was "borrowing" and locked his own gaze with Roxas's. A cocky grin spread across his lips and he nodded. Roxas's eyes widened and he started backing out of the room.

"Uh…Rox?" Riku raised an eyebrow at the boy's odd behavior.

"Actually Riku, you're right. I should be in class. See ya!" Roxas blurted out before barreling out into the hall, racing back toward the English hallway. Riku blinked in surprise and raised the other eyebrow.

"Now what the hell was that all about?" he mumbled to himself, unfolding the note as he walked back toward his desk. He opened it the entire way and his eyes swept over the page.

_Riku,_

_I completely forgot to ask you what I was going to ask you to begin with! How about lunch, just you and me? We haven't done that in a while…please? _

_I love you!_

_-Sora_

"Crazy kid," Riku murmured fondly, shoving the note back into his pocket.

"The little brunet?" Axel asked, discreetly dropping Riku's homework onto the other boy's desk.

"His name is Sora," Riku repeated himself.

"Right right, Sora." Axel waved a hand in the air casually. He looked back toward the door that Roxas had fled through, a curious look on his face. "Say Riku…" he started out slowly, waiting for a response.

"Hmm?" Riku hummed, tearing his eyes away from the clock to blink at the redhead. Axel kept his eyes trained on the door for a few more moments.

"That boy that was just here…" he murmured. Riku tilted his head slightly.

"You mean Roxas? What about him?"

"You're friends with him, aren't you?"

"I guess. He's a lot closer to Sora though; why?"

Axel grinned and scooted his desk closer to Riku's, leaning his arms on the other boy's desk.

"So, what can you tell me about this kid?"

* * *

Riku stepped out of his third period AP History classroom, stepping away from the door and out into the hallway. Looking over his shoulder, he caught Axel's eye and smirked at the redhead that walked out behind him. Axel returned the same smug look and headed down the hallway toward the cafeteria, leaving Riku to walk the other direction toward Sora's locker. The brunet was already rummaging through the locker, head buried inside and arms moving in and out rapidly. Riku waited patiently and leaned against the locker next to Sora's. Sora finally slammed the locker closed and turned, jumping and yelling in surprise upon seeing Riku there. 

"Where'd you come from!" he exclaimed, staring up at his boyfriend with wide eyes.

"Um…my mom's vaginal region?" Riku shrugged.

"Ew."

"Hey, you asked."

"Still," Sora sulked. Riku draped an arm around Sora's shoulders and led him back toward the cafeteria.

"Oh come on, don't sulk. Besides, I've got some news for you," he bribed the brunet. Sora's ears perked up and he glanced back at Riku.

"News? What kind of news? And why are we going this way? I thought we were going out just by ourselves!" Sora protested, stopping in his tracks right in the middle of the hallway. Riku sighed and allowed the arm that was around Sora's shoulders to slip down to his waist.

"I know, I know, but trust me, we have a better opportunity waiting for us just inside those cafeteria doors," he replied with a charming grin. Sora's frown wavered a bit and he continued glaring at Riku.

"I repeat, what is it?" the brunet demanded. Riku urged Sora forward again and the two boys entered the cafeteria, making their way toward the doors that led to the courtyard.

"Well…I don't know if I should tell you. Maybe I should just let it be a surprise," the silver-haired boy said teasingly. Sora pouted slightly and flashed Riku a pair of puppy eyes.

"Oh come on, Riku! Just tell me!" he begged, pushing the door open with his hip and leading the taller boy outside. Riku continued to smile and tapped Sora on the nose gently.

"Fine, I'll give you a hint. There're two parts to it."

"What? That doesn't help me!" Sora exclaimed. "Come on! I just want to know!" Riku snickered and sighed dramatically.

"All right, I **guess** I can tell you…but you have to keep quiet until we get there okay?"

"Yeah!" Sora nodded enthusiastically. Riku made a big show out of looking around them, making sure that no one was listening to them. His eyes darted back and forward suspiciously, causing Sora to giggle at the sight. The aqua-eyed boy leaned in and brought his lips up to Sora's ear. The blue-eyed boy waited impatiently, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. Riku slowly brushed a kiss onto Sora's ear and licked the shell gently.

"Love you…" he murmured and pulled away with a satisfied smirk. Sora smiled up at Riku.

"Aww, that's so…wait, that's not what you were going to say!" he shouted, smacking Riku's arm lightly. Riku let out a real laugh this time and ruffled Sora's hair.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Gosh, you're so fun to mess with," he informed his shorter lover.

"I don't think I like you very much right now, you know that?" Sora huffed, continuing to stomp his way over to a far corner of the courtyard where their group usually sat.

"Oh don't be like that, you know I was just teasing you."

"Jerk."

"Blackmail."

"What?" Sora stopped again and blinked. Riku chuckled and grabbed Sora's hand, pulling him forward to keep him moving.

"That's what the opportunity is. Blackmail," Riku repeated himself. Sora raised an eyebrow slightly and gave Riku a skeptical look.

"Big deal, it's blackmail. It's not like you don't have tons of it stored in that pretty little head of yours," he said, swinging their adjoined hands back and forward gently.

"True, but this is **special** blackmail," Riku replied, eyes twinkling mischievously.

That definitely caught Sora's attention.

"What…kind of special?" he asked slowly. Riku looked ahead and noticed that they were almost to their usual spot.

"Just watch," he whispered back, marching up to a pair of teens on the ground next to a picnic table, the female chatting animatedly and the male seemingly not listening to a word she said. "Hey guys," he greeted them in a louder tone, sitting on the end of a bench and letting go of Sora's hand.

"Hey, we were wondering where you two were!" Selphie greeted them, looking up at them from her place on the ground next to Roxas.

"Where is everybody?" Sora asked as he plopped himself down in Riku's lap, making himself comfortable.

"Well Tidus went to go get food," Selphie replied.

"And Kai?"

"She and **Naminé** went back to her locker to get her money." Sora looked at Selphie in surprise, confused by her sudden mockery of Naminé and the small pout that was threatening to overtake her lips. Riku didn't seem to notice however since he suddenly smirked instead.

"Good." He nodded. Selphie blinked at him and tilted her head to the side.

"Good? What's good about it? Do you know something I don't because I don't like not knowing things and-"

"Selphie, stop talking and I'll tell you," Riku promised her. The brunette instantly went silent. Riku smiled at her and flickered his gaze over to Roxas, who was currently writing something down in his binder.

"So Roxas," Riku started out, playing with Sora's fingers in his lap.

"Hmm?" Roxas hummed, not bothering to look up from his lap.

"How's your nose?" the silver-haired boy asked, peering at Roxas through his bangs. The blond boy froze briefly before looking up, giving Riku a curious look.

"It's fine…why do you ask?" he questioned, closing up his binder all together and staring at Riku full-on.

'_There's no way that he could possibly know about Saturday. He just couldn't.'_ Roxas tried to convince himself, forcing himself to remain calm. Riku shrugged in return.

"Just wondering," Riku replied. Roxas nodded his head and smirked at the other boy.

"Kind of a goofy thing to wonder."

Riku remained silent for a moment, contemplating his next move. Selphie looked up at Sora in question. The brunet shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know what was going on either; he rarely ever did when it came to Roxas.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Riku finally spoke again. Roxas gave him another strange look before opening his binder once again.

"Ookay then. Weirdo." He returned to the page he had been writing on and retrieved his pen. Riku rolled his eyes and leaned back against the table.

"And what kind of boxers would you happen to be wearing today? Teddy bears? Kittens? After all, I'm sure your dinosaur ones are dirty," he said with a snicker. Roxas snapped his head back up and stared at Riku with wide blue eyes.

"Who told you about that!" he yelled, blinking in shock. Riku burst into laughter, leaving Selphie and Sora to exchange confused looks once again.

"…did we miss something?" they asked simultaneously. Riku regained enough composure to retell the tale.

"So apparently, Roxas is a big ditz."

"How do you figure?" Sora prodded, leaning back against Riku's chest.

"Well, Blondie here answered the door without pants on and then when he tried to run away, he ran straight into a wall. Oh and something about blue drool." Riku stopped and looked at Roxas with a triumphant smile. "Sound familiar, Rox?"

The blond boy attempted to glare at Riku while fighting off a blush. "Shut. Up," he growled through gritted teeth. Riku smiled sweetly in return.

"Oh don't worry, Axel doesn't think you're a loser or anything. Just kind of retarded."

"Oh, who cares what he thinks anyway?" Roxas muttered, growing redder from the combination of embarrassment and anger.

"Obviously you do," Sora pointed out. Selphie giggled quietly and looked over to Roxas.

"Aw, it's okay, Roxy. I'm sure nothing's been damaged!" she said through her laughter.

"Other than his ego," Riku commented. Roxas growled and threw his binder on the ground.

"Okay fine, so I made myself look like a dumbass! There, are you happy now?" he shouted, glaring at his three friends who were surprised by his outburst.

"Roxas…calm down. Look, we all act stupid around our crush at one time or another. You just have to roll with the punches," Selphie explained, leaning back against the tree and looking at Roxas warily. Roxas sighed heavily and shook his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys? I don't have a crush on Axel. I barely know the guy!"

"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Roxas looked up at Sora who was quietly watching the pair on the ground thoughtfully.

"Yeah, about as much as I believe in Santa Clause," the blonde snorted. "Sora come on, seriously. Love at first sight? Please."

Sora pouted and fiddled with his hands in his lap. "First of all, Santa's real. Second of all, what is so hard to believe about love at first sight, huh?"

"Santa's not real, get over it. And love at first sight is actually just lust at first sight, and I'm not lusting after Axel, therefore, I win, you lose. End of story." Roxas nodded in confirmation.

"So what about Kairi?" Riku cut in.

"What about her?"

"Doesn't she count as lust at first sight?" Riku countered, grabbing onto Sora's hands and forcing them to hold still. Roxas blinked a few times.

"What? N-no, she doesn't! See, I actually have a crush on her," he started to defend himself.

"But you started to like her when you first met her, did you not?"

"Well I guess but-"

"Well then there you go. That counts as love at first sight, which is, according to you, lust at first sight therefore you're lusting after Kairi. So I think that **I **win and **you** lose. End of story," Riku said with a slight mocking tone to his voice.

"Riku, be nice," Sora warned him, watching Roxas as his anger started to grow.

"You know what Riku? Screw you. You don't know what you're even talking about!" Roxas shouted at the silver-haired boy.

"Roxas, relax! Look, Riku didn't mean to make you mad, did you Riku?" Selphie interjected, glancing at the oldest teen for confirmation.

"Well actually-"

"Riku!"

"Okay, I didn't mean to make Roxas mad," Riku said with a slight sigh. "But I mean, it's not my fault he gets so easily offended."

"I'm not offended," Roxas cut him off.

"You're the one who's sitting here yelling at me."

"I'm not yelling!"

"What's going on?" Roxas looked up and spotted Kairi standing a few feet away, a puzzled look on her face and without Naminé by her side. A small grin crossed his lips and he felt his anger leaving rapidly.

"Nothing, Riku's just being an asshole, as usual," the blond explained, scooting over so that Kairi could sit next to him. The blue-eyed girl carefully sat down on the ground between Roxas and Selphie, setting her sandwich in her lap and unwrapping it.

"That's not surprising," she said as she set the cellophane aside, taking a bite of her food. Roxas nodded and picked up his binder once more, returning to the page he was writing on. Selphie looked over at Kairi and reached over, swiping the sandwich from the redhead's hand and taking a bite.

"So where's your shadow?" she asked around a mouthful of food, swallowing shortly after. Kairi gave her a playful scowl before taking her food back and giggling quietly.

"Well, it's a funny story. So we were walking back down the hall to come back out here right? Well, we ended up going down the "senior hall" and Nami was busy talking to me, so she wasn't watching where she was going. So just as we turn the corner, she crashes right into this one guy. Any of you familiar with the name Marluxia?"

"Isn't he that guy with pink hair?" Sora questioned his female friend. Riku lifted him up gently and set him down on the bench, getting up and heading back into the cafeteria. Sora decided against questioning his boyfriend's motives and waited for Kairi's answer.

"Actually, it's like a light brown color but yeah, that's him." She nodded.

"Okay so what about him?" Selphie asked impatiently, pulling her knees to her chest and watching Kairi closely.

"Well, she had ended up spilling some of her soda on his shirt and so because she's a freshman she started apologizing like crazy and rambling. Marluxia kind of just laughed it off and noticed that she was wearing a Fall Out Boy shirt and he started up a conversation about that and so…yeah, she's still back in the senior hall talking to him." She shrugged and went back to her sandwich, resting her back against the tree.

"…wait, she's down there by herself?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Sora, she's fine. Besides, it's just the usuals…y'know, Marluxia, Larxene, Saïx, Demyx, and then the one junior. Axel I think?" Kairi looked up thoughtfully. "Either way, she's safe," she decided.

"I'm surprised you didn't stay," Selphie commented, picking at the grass by her legs.

"Why would I? I'd rather be here with you guys," Kairi replied. Selphie smiled cheerfully and nodded.

"That's because we're pretty awesome." She winked and scanned the courtyard. "Where the hell is Tidus?"

"He probably got sidetracked," Roxas mumbled as he turned to a new page.

"Nah, he's right there with Riku," Sora announced, pointing across the courtyard to where the two boys where marching toward them. They soon arrived back to the others, Riku sitting next to Sora and Tidus next to Selphie, just where they belonged.

"Sunchips and water," Tidus said briefly before handing Selphie her lunch and biting into his own slice of pizza. Selphie took the bag and bottle from him and nodded absently.

"Thanks babe," she said in return and focused her attention on Kairi. "So did Naminé say if she was going to come back?"

"I don't know really. She seemed pretty interested in what Marluxia was saying to her, whatever that was."

"Hey, I would be too if I was a freshman with a senior talking to me," Sora jumped in, taking the giant cookie Riku brought him and opening it, breaking off a piece. "Besides, Naminé deserves to meet new people."

"Yeah, exactly. Maybe she'll end up staying with him for the whole lunch period," Selphie added, a slight edge of hope in her tone. Riku gave the younger brunette a skeptical look but kept his mouth shut. He knew something was up; he just wasn't quite sure what.

'_I'll just ask her during 4th period.'_ He decided to himself and chewed on his cheeseburger quietly. He let his eyes wander over toward Roxas, who was still hunched over his binder and scribbling away.

"Whacha writin', Roxy?" he questioned the blond.

"A list," Roxas answered without looking up or pausing his flow of writing.

"A list of what?" Sora blinked and leaned forward to look at the piece of paper. Roxas quickly shielded the list from the brunet and held his binder close.

"What I want for my birthday. My parents are actually gonna be home for once, so they're buying my presents and stuff," he announced happily.

"Isn't your birthday on Friday?" Kairi rejoined the conversation.

"Yeah, basically."

"And then you'll finally be the same age as everybody else in your class," Tidus pointed out as he picked at his lunch.

"Rub it in, I know," Roxas sighed and ripped out the piece of paper, folding it up and putting it in his pocket.

"Wait, you're not even going to let us see the list?" Selphie poked Roxas's arm and reached for his pocket. The boy swatted her hand away and shook his head firmly.

"Nope. It doesn't matter anyway, it's just a list for my parents."

"But Rox, how are we supposed to know what to get you if you don't even clue us in?" she whined, still prodding at Roxas's arm.

"Surprise me."

"You don't like surprises," Riku reminded him.

"Then don't get me anything, I don't care."

"What's with the negativity?" Sora looked up from his cookie.

"There **is** no negativity," Roxas snapped back. He noticed the hurt look on Sora's face then and quickly tried to backtrack. "I mean, well, there's nothing really special about material items ya know? I'm perfectly happy with just acknowledging the fact that I'll finally be 15."

"Whatever you say, Rox. Whatever you say," Sora sighed and finished off his cookie, handing Riku the wrapper.

"Well what do you want me to say?"

"Roxas, I think what Sora's trying to say is that we love you and want to do something good for you on your birthday, but you're making it kind of difficult," Kairi filled him in. The bell rang then and Roxas quickly shoved his binder into his bookbag, bouncing to his feet.

"Well would you look at that, the bell rang! Better get to class!" he stated before all but running away from his friends, retreating inside the building. Sora blinked and looked at the remaining teens around him.

"That's odd. Usually Roxas dreads going to Advanced Algebra," he commented as he stood up as well, waiting for Riku patiently. Tidus rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Sora, don't you get it? Roxas was trying to avoid the subject of his birthday, therefore, he used getting to class on time as an excuse," he explained as he also got to his feet, pulling Selphie up after him. "Basically, he was saved by the bell, literally."

"My question is, why is he acting so weird about it? I mean, he's finally going to be caught up with the rest of us. Well, almost the rest of us. You'd think that he'd be talking nonstop about it," Kairi pointed out as she got up and dusted off her skirt, picking up her trash. "It's almost like he's afraid to be excited."

"Kairi, if there's one thing I've learned throughout my time of knowing Roxas, it's that there **is** no explaining Roxas. He's an enigma and shall remain so until we either bully it out of him or he cracks enough to tell us." Selphie grinned and slipped her hand into Tidus' as the group walked back toward the building.

"So in other words, we should just leave it alone," Riku rationalized as he shoved his and Sora's garbage into the trash can by the door. "It's none of our business and I bet that Roxas wouldn't approve of us prying." The group of five entered the building and walked down the hallway, noticing that the crowd was getting smaller as more people were getting to class.

"Well I'm still gonna ask him during class. You can't just pick up and leave like that without an explanation," Sora concluded.

"Sora, seriously, don't pry okay? If Roxas wants to tell you and you want to tell us, that's fine. But don't force him to talk all right?" Riku warned him, pinning the smaller boy up against the wall. Sora pouted slightly but nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Fine, I won't pry," he sighed and sulked even more. Riku rolled his eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to the younger boy's lips.

"Oh stop that. I'll see you after school okay?"

Sora immediately perked up. "Yep, definitely!" he all but squealed as he hugged Riku tightly and skipped into his math class. Riku chuckled under his breath and continued on his way, Kairi at his side.

"You love your flamer, don't you?" Kairi asked as they headed out of the math hallway.

"Oh totally. But I have a feeling that he's going to mess up somewhere with the Roxas thing."

"Guess we'll just have to see?" Kairi looked up at Riku in question.

"Guess so." Riku shrugged and entered his classroom, leaving everything else behind.

* * *

"So I have a question," Selphie said casually, leaning on Riku's desk as the older boy worked on his speech. 

"What?" he replied without looking up from the notes in front of him.

"Do you think I should experiment with a girl?" Selphie crawled up onto Riku's desk, sitting on part of his notes. Riku's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he finally looked up at the brunette perched on his desk.

"Say what now?"

"Do you think I should experiment with a girl?" Selphie repeated herself, leaning forward closer to Riku's face.

"Uh…if you want?" he replied unsurely, setting down his pen and giving Selphie his full attention.

"Well do you think it'd be a bad idea?" the green-eyed girl pressed on, determined to get some answers. After all, Riku was smart, he would know what to say and do.

"I don't know."

Or not.

"Riku!" Selphie whined, now spreading herself out on top of the desk.

"Wha-Selphie, get off of my work!" the silver-haired boy protested and attempted to push Selphie off of his desk.

"But I want your opinion on something!" Selphie insisted, refusing to budge at all. Riku sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine, if you really are bi-curious, you should experiment with a girl. Anything else?"

"No, not really," she trailed off, pulling Riku's notes out from under her. Riku hummed quietly and snatched the papers from her, resting his chin in the palm of his other hand.

"Good because I have something to ask you."

"Oh? What's that?" Selphie blinked her large green eyes at the older boy, curious to what he had to say. Riku paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and plan his wording carefully; the last thing he wanted to do was make Selphie mad.

"Selph…are you jealous of Naminé?" he finally asked, unsure of any other way to put it. Selphie blinked once, blinked twice, and raised an eyebrow.

"Is it that obvious?" she countered with her own question.

"No, but thanks for confirming that for me." Riku smirked and bumped his forehead against the younger girl's. "So, care to tell me **why** you're so jealous of her to begin with?"

"I'm not jealous," Selphie immediately replied.

"Sel, you just admitted that you were," he retorted flatly. "Look, you'd probably tell me sooner or later anyway, so might as well just do it sooner. What's going on?" he demanded, leaning back and waiting for an answer. Selphie sighed heavily and traced patterns on the desktop she was sitting on.

"Okay well, promise you won't say anything to Kairi?" she asked meekly, causing Riku to raise an eyebrow again.

"Kairi huh? Yeah, sure. So what's going on?" he repeated himself. Selphie didn't answer right away, instead looking down at her hands. Riku frowned thoughtfully and tilted his head, trying to think of what could be so horrible that Selphie wouldn't outright say it.

"I think I'm bisexual."

Oh. That.

"Um, didn't you tell us that last week when we were terrorizing Roxas?" Riku inquired as he glanced at the clock, realizing that class was almost over.

"Nope, I said maybe I was curious. There's a difference." Selphie nodded enthusiastically. Riku gave her an amused smile and chuckled lightly.

"Okay so why are you suddenly bisexual?" Selphie remained silent, giving Riku a blank look and waiting for the boy to come to the conclusion on his own. Riku thought for a long moment, closing his eyes in concentration as he racked his brain back to everything Selphie had ever said about the matter, which really wasn't much.

'_Okay so…she's curious, she thinks she's bisexual, she's jealous of Nami, she said not to tell Kai-…wait! No way…'_ He shook his head suddenly, attempting to get rid of his current thoughts and suspicions.

No such luck.

"Tell me it's not what I think it is…" he said slowly, opening his eyes to meet Selphie's.

"What do you think it is?"

"You have a crush on Kairi, don't you," he stated rather than asked. The brunette looked to her left, then to her right, and shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but the feelings are starting to show up-" she was soon cut off by a triumphant yell from Riku.

"I knew it! I was gonna ask you about it later! Aha, I **am** a genius!" he announced, slamming his hands down on the desk.

"What? Is it really that obvious?" Selphie asked quickly, scared that her secret was out.

"Psh, no. I'm just observant like that, don't worry. But I'm going to guess you don't want Tidus to find out either?" Riku responded, packing up his papers and his binder.

"Of course not. He's already suspicious of me, why confirm his theories?"

"Just saying, Sel, just saying. So what are you going to do?"

"…about what exactly?" she asked, finally sliding off of the desk to pack up her own bag.

"Your man-made triangle. Are you going to ignore your crush on Kai and stay with Tidus or are you gonna break up with Tidus and go for Kai or stay with Tidus and fool around with Kai or dump Tidus and ignore Kai or-"

"I don't know! Riku I'm really confused, please don't throw so many options at me," Selphie cut the older boy off before he could continue listing all of the possibilities for the brunette.

"Got it. You know I'm here if you need me though right?" The bell sounded off and the entire class hurried out into the hallway, Riku and Selphie moving at a slower pace.

"Yeah…thanks."

"No problem. Sora'll help too, you know how he loves being involved in everybody else's business." Riku rolled his eyes at the mere thought, causing Selphie to giggle.

"Yeah, but maybe we'll appreciate it this time," she suggested and looked ahead, spotting Sora at the other end of the hallway barreling toward them.

"You think so?" Riku gave Selphie a skeptical look, keeping one eye on Sora.

"Hey, I only said maybe," she pointed out. Riku nodded and picked up his stride to reach Sora faster.

"We'll talk about it later okay?"

"Yeah…sure thing," Selphie barely said before Riku was pounced on by Sora who began talking animatedly and dragging the older boy down the hallway. She felt a small pout form on her lips and sighed heavily, turning to make her way toward Biology.

"Gay boys always have it easier," she sighed quietly and stepped into the classroom, closing the door behind her.

* * *

After school time found Roxas in his bedroom, stereo cranked all the way up and him on his computer, checking his email. He pushed himself out away from his desk, determined to go downstairs and hunt for something to eat when the song changed, loud rock music bursting through the speakers. Roxas grinned to himself and leaned over to look out into the hallway discreetly. 

No one else was home yet.

Pushing himself out of his chair and landing on the floor, Roxas started dancing around his room and singing loud and off-key to the words coming from the speakers, not even hearing the doorbell ring.

"Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say, I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way, for all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took, remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor, I'm nooot okayyyy, I'm not okayyyyy, I'm not okayyyyy, you wear me out!" He didn't care that he looked like a total flamer right now or that he'd die of embarrassment if anybody else saw him. All that mattered was that in four days he'd be 15 and something incredible would happen, he could just feel it. He continued dancing and singing as the song went on, failing to notice that the front door had opened and closed and that footsteps were thudding against the stairs.

"Guitar solo!" Roxas announced and dropped to his knees, playing his air guitar and head-banging right there in the middle of his bed. With his eyes closed, he didn't even notice that his door opened part-way and that somebody stood outside in the hallway, chuckling lightly.

"Now those are some mad skills," the other boy commented lightly, causing Roxas to jerk awkwardly and fall off of the bed, face-planting into the carpet and staring up at Axel with bewildered blue eyes.

"Wha-what are you doing here!" he exclaimed, scrambling up to his feet and shutting off the stereo. Axel gave him an amused smirk and leaned against the doorframe, watching the smaller boy closely.

"Lookin' for Seifer," he said shortly, eyeing the stereo system. "Say, how much would I have to pay you to shake it like that again?" he added as an afterthought, sliding his eyes to once again meet Roxas'. The blond's own eyes widened at the suggestion.

'_Okay, just stay calm. It's just the weird kid…he's your brother's friend…stay calm, and _**don't**_ blush!' _He told himself, staring up at Axel.

"S-seifer's not here," he stuttered and felt his cheeks grow warm at the sound of his own voice. He cleared his throat and tried again. "He, Raijin, and Fujin all went down to the park."

Axel clearly was annoyed and he rolled his eyes. "Bitches," he muttered to himself and shook his head, faking a smile for Roxas. "Well thanks kid, I should probably track 'em down." Roxas huffed defiantly and narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not a kid. I turn 15 in four days," he informed the redhead, folding his arms over his chest and attempting to look intimidating. Axel was barely able to hold back his laughter.

'_Cute kid. A bit naïve, but cute kid all the sa-, shit he's only 14! Greeeat…'_ Axel sighed inwardly and gave off another cocky grin.

"Right sorry. Thanks, **Roxas**," he corrected himself, snickering quietly as the blue-eyed boy's glare intensified.

"Yeah, sure whatever," the blond mumbled, knowing he couldn't keep up his façade for much longer. Axel pushed himself away from the doorframe and stood there waiting, unsure of what to say.

"Well, see ya around then," he said with a wave and began walking away.

"Bye," Roxas replied flatly, thankful that the redhead was finally leaving and that he didn't mention Roxas' dancing skills.

"Oh hey Roxas? Maybe next time I come over you can teach me your moves." One green eye winked and the redhead darted down the stairs, exiting the house and heading down the sidewalk in the direction of the park. Roxas groaned out loud and slumped back down into his computer desk, allowing his head to hit the desk with a dull thud.

It was official; he was cursed.

* * *

The days crawled by slowly, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they were all torture for poor Roxas as his big day drew nearer. His eyes snapped open at precisely six-thirty am on Friday morning and he sat straight up, a satisfied grin on his face. 

He was finally 15.

Roxas leapt out of bed and grabbed some clothes from the floor, bounding into the bathroom to shower. After making sure that he was nice and clean, he stepped out of the bathroom wearing his school clothes and finished up his morning routine, finding himself down in the kitchen.

"Hello, anybody still here?" he called out, a tad puzzled by the lack of his brothers.

"Yeah, still here," Hayner hollered back from the living room. Roxas dashed into the other room and spotted his older brother sitting on the couch, bowl of cereal in his hands and cartoons on TV.

"Hey," Roxas greeted him, grabbing a handful of cereal from the box on the coffee table.

"Hey dude, happy birthday," Hayner replied offhandedly, more focused on the cartoon than on Roxas. But the younger blond didn't care, he just appreciated the acknowledgement.

"Thanks," he answered with another small grin. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

Hayner frowned slightly and reached over to the side table, picking up a plain white envelope. "Right here," he replied, handing his younger brother the envelope. Roxas gave Hayner a puzzled look before opening it, pulling out a plain card. He read over it briefly and opened it, frowning in disappointment.

"They're not going to be here today, are they?" he asked quietly, throwing the $500 that was in the card down on the table in disgust. Hayner sighed heavily and rubbed Roxas' back gently.

"Sorry man, they left late last night. You were already asleep. They'll be back on Monday though, or they should be," he explained. Roxas stared at the card and the money again before shaking his head and standing up. "Rox?" Hayner blinked at his younger brother.

"Whatever, I'm going to school. Bye," Roxas mumbled and walked out of the living room, grabbing his backpack and slamming the front door shut, causing Hayner to wince. The older boy glanced at the card on the table and shook his head, picking it up and stuffing it back into its envelope.

"You guys couldn't just take a break, could you?" he murmured to himself as he also rose from his seat, carrying his dirty dishes and the cereal box back into the kitchen and glancing up at the clock.

It was only 7:05.

Roxas found himself at school half an hour earlier than needed and sighed to himself, sitting down on a bench in front of the building. Curling his legs up underneath him, he slipped his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and sat still, observing the quiet atmosphere.

"Would it have killed them to miss work for one day? Just one?" he mumbled to himself, looking at the ground. "Hell, they even promised that they would be home today," he reminded himself, fingers suddenly brushing against a sheet of paper. Pulling it out of his pocket, Roxas unfolded the note and his eyes scanned over it, coming to find that it was his birthday list he was supposed to give his parents that morning.

"Guess I have no use for this now." He tore up the list into tiny pieces and shoved it into the garbage can next to him, feeling his bottom lip start to quiver.

'_No, Roxas, don't cry. Don't cry, Roxas. Damn you don't cry! Shoulda known that this was going to happen, it's happened every other year. Why should this one be any different?'_ He rolled his eyes skyward and leaned his head against the back of the bench, sniffling quietly and blinking rapidly. He sat up again and opened his backpack, digging out a notebook and flipping it open. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and uncapped it, scrawling a title at the top of the paper.

"Roxas' revised birthday list," he muttered to himself, scribbling down three of his wishes almost immediately. His pen paused and his hand hovered over the paper, unsure of what else to put. He knew what he really wanted, really he did, but he just couldn't figure out how to put those wishes into words.

"You're here kind of early, aren't you?" Roxas looked up from his list and bright blue eyes met green ones.

"I…suppose," he answered slowly, giving the older boy a skeptical look. "I could say the same thing for you though."

Axel shrugged and held up a pink slip of paper. "They kicked me out of woodshop," he informed the blond with a sheepish smile. "So I need to get a schedule change to get another Fine Art credit."

"Oh." Roxas nodded and looked down at his feet. Axel quirked up an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, looking at the other boy curiously.

"Hey, why the long face? You just turned 15 today, shouldn't you be like, happy?" he asked, unsure of how to approach the younger boy. Roxas shrugged and refused to meet Axel's eye.

"It's a long story," he simply said, finding the tops of his sneakers more interesting than the redhead. Axel's frown deepened slightly and he shifted his bag on his shoulder awkwardly.

"Well…still, you shouldn't let one little thing ruin your entire day," he pointed out, slipping the hand that wasn't gripping his shoulder strap into the pocket of his large black coat. Roxas nodded again and bit the inside of his cheek.

'_Hmm, if only it was one little thing.'_ He inwardly cringed and continued chewing on his cheek.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roxas merely shrugged. Axel twisted his face in thought and racked his brain for something to say. Without thinking, he reached forward and gently grabbed Roxas' chin, lifting the younger boy's head up to meet his eyes.

"Well kid, you just gotta keep your head up. Got it memorized?" he said coolly, keeping a firm grip on Roxas' face. Roxas nodded as best as he could and wrenched his face away from the older boy.

"Yeah, I guess so," he repeated himself. Axel's eyes narrowed and he shook his head.

"Uh-uh, that's not gonna work. Seriously, don't blow me off." His voice was stern and his eyes were serious. Roxas shrank back slightly and nodded.

"Okay, I won't blow you off," he replied. Axel's expression slipped back into his normal easygoing one and he stepped back from Roxas, checking his watch.

"Well, I should go…maybe I'll see you later," he said offhandedly and shifted his bag again. Roxas blinked in surprise and found himself opening his mouth with nothing to say.

"Bye."

And that was that. Axel grinned once more and began to walk away, heading toward the front doors to the school building. Suddenly he turned around and looked back at Roxas.

"Hey Roxas?" Roxas looked up again hopefully.

"Yeah?"

"If you see Seifer, tell him that I won't be around after school," Axel said and continued on his way, disappearing into the building. Roxas' shoulders slumped and he sighed deeply.

"Yeah…sure," he answered even though Axel was long gone. He suddenly felt disappointed by what had happened and a bit frustrated that he had been so awkward once again. He hated that feeling and he hated knowing that Axel was his superior in every single way. And yet, at the same time, he still was fascinated by the older boy, just a bit. He seemed different, that was all.

"Oh screw it, I have other things to worry about," he reminded himself and allowed his eyes to wander again, landing on the list in his lap that he had been writing before Axel showed up. He scrawled out his last wish and folded up the paper, tucking it safely into his pocket just before he heard someone shout his name. He looked up and spotted Sora jogging toward him with Riku trailing after him. He glanced down at his own watch and realized that it was close to 7:30 by now and that more and more people were arriving on campus. Pushing himself off of the bench and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he made his way over to his friends and plastered a calm look on his face, ignoring his insides that were still jumpy from Axel's touch and determined to keep his head up.

* * *

By the time sixth period rolled around, Roxas was ready to just go home and go to sleep. His day hadn't gotten much better since that morning and he was irritated because of it. He all but stalked into his sixth period drawing class and flung his bag down on the table, flopping down in his seat. He pulled a pencil out of his backpack and shoved the bag from the table to the floor, feeling slightly better about the loud crash he caused. He tapped the eraser of the pencil on the tabletop, impatiently waiting for class to start. The sooner it started, the sooner he could leave and go home. His brooding was soon interrupted though when another bang snapped out him out of his reverie. 

"So, did your day get any better?" Roxas looked up and came to once again meet green eyes.

'_How does he do that?'_ the blond silently wondered, propping his head up with one hand.

"What are you doing here?" he countered back, blinking at the red-haired boy curiously.

"Well like I told you, they kicked me out of woodshop, so I needed another Fine Arts credit. Here I am," Axel remarked and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh. That's…cool I guess," Roxas replied slowly, unsure of what else to say. Axel nodded and focused on Roxas again.

"So, did your day get any better?" he repeated himself.

"Uh…kinda?" Roxas shrugged, staring at Axel full-on for the first time that day.

"That's good," Axel noted and Roxas nodded absently, still staring at Axel closely. Axel resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow and ask what was on his face and instead stared back, only not as intense. Roxas was just about to open his mouth and say something to break the silence when somebody else cut him off.

"Yo, Axel! Over here!" Both boys looked up and spotted a kid with dirty-blond hair styled into a mohawk sitting with another boy with longish brown hair. Axel grinned and stood up from the table, grabbing his bag from where he dropped it.

"Hey, I'll see you later, Roxas," Axel dismissed the blond and headed over to the other two older boys. "Oh yeah, and happy birthday!" he called over his shoulder and crossed the room, joining the other two boys at the table and leaving Roxas by himself. A small grin crossed Roxas' lips and he looked away from Axel.

"Thanks," he said quietly just as the final bell rang. Roxas tried his best to listen to what his teacher was saying, but he kept finding himself looking over his shoulder at Axel and the other two boys throughout the whole period. Axel didn't seem to notice though; he kept talking to his two friends and working on their new assignment for class. By the time it was all over, Roxas bolted out of the classroom as quickly as he could, just to get away from Axel, but even then, he found himself looking over his shoulder to see if the green-eyed boy was following him out. He soon crashed into Sora who was once again with Riku.

"Hey, just the guy I wanted to see!" Sora announced and draped an arm around Roxas' shoulders, leading him back down toward their lockers.

"What's up Sora?" Roxas continued sneaking glances over his shoulder while trying to focus on his friend.

"You're coming with me, that's what."

"Right now?"

"Yes. Because I said so." Sora nodded assuredly and grabbed Roxas' wrist, dragging him down the hallway now. "Because we're going to the mall because I want to buy you something for your birthday." Roxas gave Riku a confused look. The silver-haired boy merely shrugged and clutched his backpack.

"I have to go home and finish up my homework," he explained.

"Basically, you have no escape," Sora said cheerfully, pulling Roxas out into the sunlight.

"Great." Roxas rolled his eyes but smirked a bit despite himself. With a wave goodbye to Riku, Sora proceeded to drag Roxas down the street, babbling a mile a minute. Riku waited until they were out of sight before running back inside and meeting up with Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Naminé.

"Okay, Selphie, did you tell everybody what time to be at Sora's house?" Riku looked at the younger girl.

"Yep, six tonight!" Selphie beamed proudly. "I included everybody."

"Great. Kairi and Naminé, you guys are taking care of the decorations and food right?" Riku moved on to the other two girls.

"We've got it covered! We'll have everything ready by the time they come back. Wasn't Sora just taking him to the mall?" Kairi asked, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.

"Yeah, but he's also picking up the cake. He's just gonna have Roxas pick it out," Riku replied and turned to Tidus. "And you, you have the entertainment, presents, and music all taken care of?"

"Chill Riku, I've got it all taken care of," Tidus assured him, holding up a CD case.

"Jeeze Riku, what'd Sora do to get you to be so strict about this party?" Selphie asked as the group of teens left the building and headed toward Sora's house.

"Told me I wouldn't get any for a month."

"Ooh…" A chorus of understanding went among the group and they continued on their way, planning out every last detail.

* * *

"So…why do I have a cake?" Roxas raised an eyebrow at the ice cream cake in his hands, looking over at Sora who was walking next to him. 

"Because I wanted to buy you a cake. This is a day that you can have your cake and eat it too, man." Sora continued to walk slightly ahead of Roxas, keeping a few steps ahead.

"Well you just bought me a new game for my Playstation. You didn't have to buy me a cake too," Roxas pointed out as they drew nearer to Sora's house.

"Oh shut up, I did it, you can't stop me," Sora drawled out, turning to look at the blond. "What's your deal today? You act like you're miserable."

"No…it's not that."

"Then?" Sora tilted his head.

"…it's nothing."

"Roxas! You can't keep pulling that shit!"

"Sora look, it's fine. Besides, I think this cake is starting to melt," Roxas mentioned, lifting up a hand that was covered in melted ice cream.

"Okay, fine, c'mon." Sora led him up the front walk and to his front door, reaching into his pocket to grab his house key. He unlocked the door and swung it open, staring into the darkness. "Huh, that's funny. Nobody's here," he said casually, stepping in far enough for Roxas to follow. Roxas' eyes darted around the dark empty room and he turned to Sora.

"Well then maybe I can tell you what's up," he started to say but was suddenly cut off when the lights were thrown on and people popped up from all sorts of directions.

"Surprise!" Many different voices cried out and Roxas jumped, staring at everyone with wide eyes.

"Holy shit!" He focused in back on Sora who was grinning broadly.

"I think I'll take that," he said and took the cake from Roxas' hands, sashaying into the kitchen as various people crawled out of their hiding spots. Kairi bounced over to Roxas and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Happy birthday, Rox!" she exclaimed and finally pulled away, only to place a kiss on his cheek. Roxas grinned slightly in return.

"Thanks, Kairi," he replied, failing to notice the seething look he was receiving from Selphie. Riku didn't let it go unnoticed however and nudged his younger friend in the side, causing her to look up at him.

"Let him have his fun," Riku murmured to her, eyes still fixated on the blond boy. Selphie sighed and nodded.

"Right, okay," she agreed and made her way over to the stereo where Tidus was, taking the CDs from her boyfriend's hands and flipping through them. She selected one and handed the case back to Tidus, popping the CD into the stereo and cranking up the volume. Roxas looked around the room at everybody that was there.

"Jeeze, you guys even invited all of the older ones," he commented upon seeing Cloud and Leon.

"That's because I'm awesome," Selphie replied from behind him.

"Actually," Riku cut her off. "Sora's awesome. This whole party was his idea." Roxas' eyes widened again and he looked back toward the kitchen.

"Really?" He blinked in surprise. "Wow, that's…wow."

"We told you we wanted to do something for you for your birthday, Rox. Sora's just the one who put the whole thing into action," Kairi explained just as Sora came out holding Roxas's cake, 15 brightly lit candles decorating it.

"Okay everybody, this cake is freakin' melting, so we're cutting it apart now!" the brunet announced as he led Roxas to a table and set thecake down in front of him. After a loud round of Happy Birthday, Sora leaned forward, staring at Roxas from the other side of the candles.

"Go ahead, Rox. Make a wish," he urged him, leaning back away from the flames. Roxas looked at the flames thoughtfully, racking his brain for something he really truly wanted to wish for. He remembered his eighth birthday, he wished for a dragon. He never got that dragon. For his tenth birthday, he wished for superpowers. He never got those either. Roxas had learned that wishes were not meant to be wasted; then again, he had kind of lost faith in wishes anyway. Wishes never came true, no matter how hard you wished. It was just a fact of life. Roxas continued staring at the flickering flames, contemplating his one wish that was supposed to last him for a whole year. He had to think and choose carefully.

"Roxas, c'mon! Hurry up and make a wish!" Sora whined, startling him a bit.

"Sora, be patient," Riku scolded him as he held the excitable brunet in place.

"But Riku, not only is Roxas gonna waste his wish, he's gonna melt the cake!" Sora pointed out.

"Sora, it's his cake and his wish, not yours."

"But I wanted to eat the cake!"

Roxas was starting to grow annoyed with the couple's bickering and turned his attention back to the candles, desperate for anything. Suddenly it came to him; he didn't know why, he didn't know how, but he knew what to wish for, if anything just to get Sora to settle down. Leaning forward and closing his eyes, he made his wish.

'_I wish Axel were here…'_ Roxas wished inwardly, taking a deep breath and blowing out all 15 candles. Everyone present cheered and Sora practically pounced on the cake with the knife in his hand, cutting up the cake into equal-sized pieces while Kairi and Selphie put the cake onto plates. Roxas slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room at all of his friends, hunting for any sight of red. But there was nothing. No red hair, no green eyes, nothing.

"Hey Roxas, what'd you wish for?" Tidus asked him as he bit into his slice of cake. Roxas pulled back from his slight disappointment and gave Tidus a cocky grin.

"Tidus, you know that if I tell you, it won't come true," he said, looking back at the cake in front of him while trying not to burst into tears.

'_Of all the things I could have wished for, I wished for something that couldn't possibly come true. Oh well, it was a dumb thing to wish for anyway.'_ He told himself and took the paper plate with cake on it from Kairi's hands, biting into it numbly.

'_Besides, wishes never come true anyway. That's why they're called wishes.'_ He confirmed and swallowed the cake in his mouth, not quite able to get rid of that lump that had lodged itself in his throat.

* * *

Roxas left his own party at about ten that evening, walking home from Sora's house alone and lugging his bag of presents behind him. He entered his own house and quietly padded upstairs, not bothering to announce his arrival. His parents weren't home, he didn't want to disturb Seifer, and Hayner, to his surprise, wasn't home either. 

'_Probably thinks I'm still at my party.'_ Roxas thought to himself as he headed into his room, closing the door behind him softly and dropping the bag on the floor gently. Out of pure habit, he sat down at his computer and logged onto the internet, drumming his fingers on the desktop. He logged into his email account and scored over the different emails he had. Just as he was about to log out, he noticed that he had a new one, just recently sent.

"Olette," he breathed out, clicking on it rapidly. The email opened before his eyes and he hungrily read the letter, letting each and every word sink in.

_Roxas!_

_Happy birthday, Mihara! Our little baby's finally 15, how exciting! You know that we all love and miss you so much and we're waiting for you to come home! Well, hope everything went well for you today, Rox. October 26th just wasn't the same without you here with us. We would have called, but Pence broke his phone and mine wasn't charged and well, nobody else has phones ya know? I promise though, we'll call you soon. You should try and talk your parents into letting you come visit for Christmas; it won't be a Twilight Christmas without Roxas! Haha, anyway, love and miss you always,_

_Olette, Pence, and the rest of the Twilight Town gang._

Roxas re-read the email a few times before the words got too blurry to read and he pushed himself away from the computer, shutting it off and crossing the room, curling up on his bed.

"Get a grip, Roxas. Nothing to fucking **cry** over," he muttered angrily, closing his eyes tightly to get rid of his tears. "It's not like they all died or something." He sniffed and opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a folded piece of paper and carefully unfolded it, idly scanning the list.

"Roxas' revised birthday list," he said dully, folding one arm behind his head and holding the list up in front of his face. "Number one. I wish that my parents would turn around and come home now for my birthday. Yeah, fat chance," he snorted and moved on to the next wish. "Wish number two. I wish that I could go back home or have my friends come visit me here. Well, I'm pretty sure it's a little late for that now. Wish number three. I wish something incredible would happen. Well, Kairi kissed me. Granted, it was my cheek, but it's still a kiss. Does that count? Sure it does, one out of four wishes taken care of. And wish number four. I wish I understood what was wrong with me and why it had to be Axel. I mean, what the hell? I keep looking at Axel, I keep thinking about Axel, but at the same time, I keep looking and thinking about Kairi. What does that all mean? Am I really curious? Ugh, who knows." Blue eyes drifted over to the window, watching the trees move with the slight breeze. Sitting up suddenly, he gently tore up the list in his hand, opening his bedroom window and watching the night sky.

"Oh well, so much for wishes," he said softly, sticking his hand out the window and releasing the little scraps of paper into the night air, watching them dance and twirl together before scattering. Another heavy sigh escaped the young boy and he flopped back on his mattress, leaving the window open. Closing his eyes, Roxas willed himself to go to sleep, despite the fact that it was far too early to sleep on a Friday night. The blond tossed and turned for a few moments until he was comfortable, allowing the sounds of the island to lull him to sleep. Had he stayed awake for a few moments longer though, he would have noticed one shred of paper float back inside the room, landing next to his cheek on his pillow.

And on that shred of paper printed in neat scrawly penmanship was the name Axel.

* * *

And...two months later, I update. Hah, well, sorry guys, I got kinda stuck and stuff and I got busy really recently what with graduation and preparing for my dance competition! I leave on Thursday for California -dances- 

Anyway, thanks for being patient guys, sorry this took so long.

Thanks to: **Dysfunctional Space Angel**, inoku, **MaraudersForPresident,** DashAway, **onlyHAUNTED**, CAPinkie, **JohnneyAntonelli**, xInsanoBananax, **hyperRme**, 13x, **Mystery Reviewer**, CrimsonRose18, **Tifa-Sama**, Shimmy123, **Laizden,** husShh, **HiddenShadows13,** Issa, **silversling**, BCZ, **Mystic Firorah**, HOMIGAWD'! It's teh Prep, **Once666**, gothangel123, **random fan**, MaroonSorrow, **varda101**, and Kenpachi. You guys rock.

And always, thanks to April for editing this. -licks and nuzzles Ap-

And now, to run across town to my dance class. Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Bending the Arrow

_Chapter Four  
_**Bending the Arrow**

The following Monday after Roxas' party found Kairi in her first period newspaper class, reading over a sheet of paper and marking things up with a pink pen. As an assistant editor, Kairi had to take on a lot more responsibilities than her friends in the class.

For instance, while she was correcting grammatical errors, Selphie was on the computer behind her playing a random game. Tidus soon popped in from their other work room and looked at Selphie.

"Hey Selph, I'm gonna go get a soda…want one?"

"Yes please!" Selphie answered before she blasted another alien on the screen. "Hah!" Tidus stood there for a few moments before he laughed at his girlfriend's antics, kissing her on the forehead.

"Okay, I'll be back." He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and left the room. Kairi's ears twitched at the sounds from Selphie's game. She turned in her chair and looked at the screen, groaning slightly.

"Selph, can't you do something more…oh, I don't know, productive?" she questioned.

"But everything else is so boring," Selphie whined, not tearing her gaze away from the monitor.

"So?"

"Aliens go boom. Does the newspaper go boom? No." Selphie nodded to herself, successfully blasting another alien.

"Selphie!" Kairi threw her pen down and got out of her chair with a paper in hand. She thrust the article in Selphie's face, setting it in front of the screen. "Edit or something, **then** you can blow up aliens." Selphie took the paper with a sigh and closed up the game.

"Fine. You're no fun," she muttered as she pulled out a pen, continuing where Kairi left off.

"That's not what Roxas says," Kairi replied airily, editing another paper from the pile in front of her.

"Hmm? What's not what Roxas says?" Selphie kept marking up her paper but couldn't help but send Kairi a confused look. Kairi laughed slightly and shook her head.

"Nothing." The redhead continued marking up her paper. Selphie paused briefly to think this over.

"Oh…he doesn't think you're not fun?"

"Exactly." Kairi nodded. Selphie merely rolled her eyes at this.

"Pfft, that's because he's even less fun than you are, so being with you throws a bit of excitement in," she rationalized.

"Actually, he's more fun than we realize," Kairi countered, turning the page. "I don't think you give him enough credit, Sel." The brunette girl just shrugged her shoulders, scribbling on the sheet of paper.

"I dunno, Kai. Now Sora, that kid's fun."

"Yeah but he's kinda immature you know? But Roxas…" Kairi trailed off, smiling slightly. "Roxas has that refined touch to his personality. I like it."

"Hmm, I see," Selphie said and scribbled out a sentence of the article, marking up other sections. The two girls worked in silence for a bit before Kairi spoke again.

"What about Tidus?" Selphie blinked at the sudden change of conversation.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, Tidus is great. He's fun and all, but he can be serious when he needs to be."

"Yeah…he's kind of goofy though, no offense," Kairi noted.

"None taken. He's a freshman, remember?" Selphie laughed lightly.

"True. Oh well…I still think it's kind of weird that you guys are together. Well more like have **stayed** together for so long," Kairi rambled, scratching out an entire paragraph.

"Well we haven't had any problems so…there hasn't really been a reason to break it off?" Selphie reasoned.

Kairi nodded in agreement. "That's true too, and that's good," she affirmed and smiled wistfully. "You know…sometimes, I'm jealous." Selphie finally looked up from her paper and back at Kairi.

"Why would you be jealous? Tidus is **totally** not your type, Kai." She wrinkled her nose at the mere thought of her best friend being paired together with her boyfriend. Kairi laughed out loud and shook her head.

"No, that's not what I meant. You both are just so happy together and belong together. I don't have that…and sometimes, I wish I did," the blue-eyed girl admitted. Selphie blinked, slightly surprised by Kairi's answer.

"But Kai, there are so many people who want you."

'_Including me.'_ She added to herself. But Kairi didn't need to know that.

"Name five," Kairi said flatly. Selphie scooted her chair closer to Kairi and sat next to her.

"Well, I don't know them."

"Well there you go."

"As if you don't feel them staring at you when you walk down the hall," the green-eyed girl scoffed lightly.

"…no, not really," Kairi said thoughtfully. "I'm usually with Sora and Riku, and you know they get stared at…a **lot**." Selphie gave her a blank stare.

"Wow, your ninja senses suck. And the kids are just jealous that they don't have it as good as Sora and Riku," she added. Kairi laughed again and threw away one of the papers in her hands.

"I don't blame them, I'm jealous too."

"Me too," Selphie sighed.

"…why? You have Tidus." Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I know, but…you know, Riku and Sora kinda have this different feel to them, you know?" Selphie stumbled over her explanation.

"What kind of different feel?" Kairi pressed on.

"I dunno…they're just so…" Selphie stopped and put down her pen and paper, folding her hands into her lap. "Perfect…I don't know how to explain it." Kairi snorted at this.

"Like you and Tidus aren't?"

"Are we?" Selphie answered with a question. "I never thought of us that way."

"…wait. Are you like, unhappy with him?" Kairi looked at her friend in shock. Selphie blinked and fiercely shook her head.

"What? No! Tidus is great; he hasn't treated me bad once!"

"I was gonna say!" Kairi exclaimed.

"I'm not unhappy with him; I don't have a reason to be unhappy with him," Selphie continued on. "We're fine."

"So why wouldn't you feel like you two are perfect?" Kairi repeated her previous question, grabbing a new stack of papers. Selphie opened her mouth to explain her reasoning, fully prepared to prove her point to Kairi. However, she soon closed it upon the realization that she didn't have anything to say, settling for shrugging.

"Exactly." Kairi nodded. The door opened again and Tidus came bouncing into the room, delivering a can of soda to Selphie.

"And here you are, Gorgeous," he said, leaning against the table the two girls were working at. The brunette smiled at the younger boy.

"Thanks, Tidus," she said halfheartedly, more preoccupied with the conversation she was having with Kairi.

"Of course," Tidus replied, running his fingers through Selphie's hair. "So…what are you two doing?"

"Editing…it's gross," Kairi pointed out the obvious.

"Editing," Selphie said at the same time as Kairi. "Kairi made me work." She stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"I wasn't going to do it by myself!" Kairi protested. Tidus' eyes darted from left to right briefly, sticking out his own tongue and licking Selphie's. The older girl squeaked, not expecting that at all, causing the boy to smirk.

"I learned that from Riku," he said proudly. A small blush bloomed on Selphie's face.

"Tidusss…" she drawled out his name.

"Yesssss?" he drawled out, mocking his girlfriend.

"Not in class," Selphie muttered. Kairi sat back and watched in amusement, silently laughing.

"…you're no fun," Tidus declared. Selphie frowned at him.

"How can you say that? That hurts my every being." She pouted sadly.

"Aw, poor baby," he joked and patted the side of Selphie's face lovingly. In turn, Selphie lightly swatted at Tidus' hand.

"Oh come on, Kai doesn't want to see us cuddling and making out in front of her," she pointed out.

"Actually, I don't care," Kairi cut in. "But not right now since I have a job for the one with the penis."

"…I have a name," Tidus protested and Selphie laughed lightly.

"Fine, **Tidus**. I need you to go deliver these to the front office," she paused to drop a stack of papers into Tidus' arms. "And this to Mrs. Edwards' class," she continued, adding a package to the top of his pile. "And this to Sora," she finished, placing a notebook on top of everything else. Tidus looked at the pile in his arms and stumbled slightly from the sudden weight.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Haha, you're a delivery boy!" Selphie said gleefully before returning to her editing duties. Tidus lightly bopped Selphie on the head with the notebook.

"Meanie."

"Owie." Selphie frowned.

"Want me to kiss it better?"

"No because you're the one that hurt it!"

"Well, too bad," Tidus retorted, kissing the spot he hit. Selphie whined and pushed him away.

"You're pushing your luck, Mister." Tidus grinned at her and winked.

"I know."

"Tidus, **now!"** Kairi exclaimed. The younger boy squeaked and scurried out of the room, propping the door open and heading down the hall. Selphie had also jumped and squeaked at Kairi's outburst. Kairi on the other hand seemed pretty pleased with herself.

"You and your mood swings…" Selphie shook her head.

"Well I wanted to get rid of your boyfriend so that I could say 'See? **Perfect!**'" Kairi exploded.

"What?" Selphie blinked again.

"You two," Kairi stated. Selphie still didn't seem to understand what her friend was saying though. "…" Kairi shook her head. "Never mind, Selphie. Just never mind."

"…you're whack, Kairi," Selphie replied, giving the blue-eyed girl a skeptical look.

"So not."

"So are."

"Lies!"

"Truths!" Selphie protested. Kairi stopped and suddenly laughed.

"Yeah, because **that** made sense!"

"Totally," Selphie agreed and poked Kairi in the stomach with her pen. Kairi giggled at the impact and Selphie's expression brightened. "Hah! You're like the little doughboy!" she pointed out and poked Kairi again. The red-haired girl giggled again and swatted at the pen.

"Stop it!" she protested but Selphie merely giggled and poked her again. "Selphie!" Kairi choked out between her laughs.

"Hah, Kairi's sensitive!" Selphie launched into an all-out tickle attack on the other girl, causing Kairi to shriek and giggle.

"Selphie!" Kairi squirmed away from Selphie, laughing anyway. Selphie continued and began laughing as well. Kairi continued wriggling away until she fell onto the floor, landing with a loud thump. It was a wonder that none of the other members of their newspaper staff came into the room to check on the two girls. Selphie followed Kairi to the floor, sitting on the other girl's waist and holding her onto the floor.

"Hey," Kairi whined. Selphie beamed down at her.

"You suck," she said cheerfully.

"Really? Tidus says the same thing about you!" Kairi winked.

"Kairi!" Selphie's eyes widened, surprised that she had just said that. Kairi didn't seem so surprised though; in fact, she just laughed it off. Selphie poked her in the stomach again, not surprised that Kairi giggled again. "That was dirty, Kai," she scolded. "…did he really say that?"

"Of course not," Kairi insisted, propping herself up on her elbows to see Selphie better. "It's true though."

"Oh…hey wait! What's true?"

"That it was dirty. Tidus isn't the only one who learned from Riku. That boy's corrupted all of us," Kairi explained.

"Oh…" Selphie nodded in understanding. "He's so awesome though!" she giggled.

"He is, he is," Kairi agreed.

"I love that guy, man."

"As we all do, especially Sora."

"Well yeah, that's a given."

"I hope so!" Kairi grinned. Selphie grinned back.

"Of course he does," Selphie agreed. Kairi scrunched up her face in thought, poking Selphie in the thigh. "Hey!" Selphie squirmed this time. Kairi's grin grew wider and she did it again. Selphie wiggled even more, attempting to get away from Kairi's hands. "Stop it!" She was determined not to lose; **she** was the Tickle-Queen, not Kairi.

"Not so fun when the tables are turned huh?" Kairi asked, poking Selphie on repeat. Selphie shrieked and fell on top of Kairi, giving up on trying to get away. "Hey!" Kairi protested, still laughing at the oddity of the situation.

"I told you to stop!" Selphie shouted.

"Hey Kai, I can't fin-" Tidus suddenly stopped mid-sentence, standing in the doorway of the room and watching the two girls on the floor. "…what are you guys doing?" Selphie propped herself up with her face not too far from Kairi's, turning to face Tidus.

"Huh?" She was still a bit dazed. Kairi blinked at Tidus' sudden appearance. Selphie looked down at their current position and blushed again, letting out a small "eep!" before rolling off of Kairi.

"Um…nothing," Kairi answered, sitting upright. "So what can't you find now?" she asked. Selphie sat up as well, hitting her head on the desk with a disgruntle "ouch!" Tidus stared between the two girls, a confused and slightly hurt look on his face.

"…nothing, forget it…" he mumbled, turning around and walking out of the room again.

"Tidus?" Selphie called after him, blinking and watching Tidus walk away. Kairi stayed in her position on the floor, also watching the freshman leave. Selphie looked at Kairi, back at Tidus, and then back at Kairi. "…what just happened!"

"Which part?" Kairi questioned.

"Just now!" Kairi looked around Selphie's head and spotted Tidus still in the hallway. The younger boy shook his head slowly and broke into a run, taking off toward the other side of the school. She slowly tore her eyes away from him and trained them back on Selphie.

"Well, we were being retarded and we ended up on the floor," she started out. Selphie nodded in agreement, motioning for Kairi to continue. "And Tidus found us straddling each other I guess."

"B-but we weren't doing anything!" Selphie stuttered, blush still looming on her cheeks.

'_Only…we kind of were. But who needs details right?' _

"Yeah…I know," Kairi replied, rewarding the brunette with a questioning look. Selphie brushed it off and got up off of the floor once again, avoiding the desk this time.

"I'm going after him…see ya later!" Selphie waved over her shoulder, bursting forth into the hallway to chase Tidus.

"…kay," Kairi replied, staying down on the floor and watching Selphie chase after Tidus, silently wondering what on earth had just happened.

Meanwhile, Tidus had just walked out of one of the classrooms in the English hallway. Selphie spotted him and called out to him.

"Tidus!" The sandy-haired boy looked up from the ground and noticed Selphie standing down at the other end of the hall. He stopped walking and waited for her to catch up, leaning against the wall of the hallway. Selphie caught up to him and stopped, attempting to catch her breath. Tidus waited patiently, although he still looked ready to run.

"What happened? Why did you leave like that?" Selphie asked, looking straight into the other's eyes. Tidus' eyes bore straight into Selphie's as well.

"Why were you straddling Kairi?" he counted back. Selphie appeared slightly taken aback by the question.

"Tidus, it's not anything like that! We were being dorks and got into a poking fight, and then we fell. That was about the time that you came in," she rushed through her explanation. Tidus frowned a bit, giving Selphie that look; the one that said he didn't quite believe her.

"Really now…"

"Of course! What else would I be doing with Kairi?"

'_Then again, there is a difference between what I would be doing and what I would _**like **_to be doing.'_ Selphie brushed away stray thoughts and remained focused.

"…who knows?" Tidus shrugged, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Tidus…she's my best friend, that's it. There's nothing more to it," Selphie stated, unsure of whom she was trying to convince; him, or herself.

"Need I point out Sora and Riku?" Tidus countered, knowing that he was slowly gaining the upper-hand.

"But…they're special!" Selphie argued. Tidus stared at her long and hard, trying to pinpoint her true feelings and intentions. But Selphie was hiding everything and he couldn't figure it out. He shook his head in defeat.

"Fine…if you insist."

"I do…there's nothing going on, I swear!" Selphie insisted.

"…okay."

"Okay."

"…you sure?" Tidus questioned again. Selphie nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course I'm sure!" She tried to look as convincing as possible, but knew that Tidus could (and would) see right through her. The boy swallowed thickly and shook his head sadly.

"Kay," was all he said. Selphie couldn't take it anymore. She reached forward and pulled Tidus' face closer to hers, kissing him hard on the lips. Tidus' eyes widened in surprise and he hesitantly started to kiss her back. Taking Tidus' response as a good sign, Selphie eagerly slid her tongue into his mouth.

Tidus continued kissing her half-heartedly, noticing that Selphie wasn't as passionate as she had been before. Her tongue entered his mouth almost too eagerly, rather forced in fact. He continued the little charade until Selphie pulled away, looking at him. He gave her another confused look, stepping back a bit.

"…you weren't into it," Selphie mentioned, puzzled by Tidus' reaction.

"Neither were you!" Tidus accused her. Selphie winced at his words, looking down at her feet half in shame, half in confusion. "Selphie…" Tidus couldn't keep the betrayal and hurt out of his voice. "What's going on?"

"I don't know…" she spoke honestly, still looking at the floor. "I just don't...know what's wrong with me…"

"Well then talk to me!" Tidus practically yelled, suddenly frustrated with the entire situation. "I can help!" Selphie looked up then.

"How do you know?"

"Because it's in the job description." He shrugged. Selphie sighed quietly but didn't budge. "Just…talk to me?" Tidus tried again. Selphie reached up and smacked her cheeks lightly.

"'m'not supposed to be emo…that's Roxas' job," she mumbled to herself. Tidus raised an eyebrow but chose not to comment. Selphie sighed again and began to speak at last.

"The truth is…I don't know if I can talk to you, Tidus."

"What the hell, Selphie?"

"Let me try again," she corrected herself, shifting in her place. "I can talk to you…but I don't think I can tell you what's going on."

"Why the hell not!" Tidus was beyond frustrated now.

"Because you'll get hurt!" Selphie yelled as well, causing Tidus to jerk back in surprise.

"…what?"

"Someone always loses in these situations," Selphie stalled to buy herself some more time.

"You know…I can't…" Tidus trailed off, sighing loudly as well and folding his arms over his chest.

"…I'm gonna try, okay?"

"Try what?" Tidus looked up through his bangs. Selphie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"Tidus…"

"What?"

"I think…I think…" Selphie stopped briefly, forcing herself to gather enough courage to go through with this. "I…I think…"

"Spit it out, Selph!" Tidus jerked her out of her slump.

"IthinkIhaveacrushonKairi!" she blurted out without even really meaning to. She gasped quietly and closed her mouth with her hands.

Whatever Tidus had been expecting, it most certainly wasn't that. He blinked once in surprise, and then again to make sure that this was real. His girlfriend still stood in front of him, covering her mouth with her hands and looking at him nervously.

"Okay…" he answered rather stiffly, giving off a shaky laugh. "Okay well, that's very interesting," he managed to say. Selphie remained quiet, anxiously awaiting Tidus' reaction. Tidus stared into Selphie's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Selphie felt as though she could read his entire soul. He was upset, without a doubt and confused…sad…worried? That couldn't be right. The blond boy shook his head slowly, still trying to convince himself that this wasn't real; but it was, and there was nothing he could do to change it.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you so much to make you turn to that," he said as his departing words before turning on his heel and starting to walk off.

"What? No! It has nothing to do with you!" Selphie cried, staying rooted to her spot. "I didn't turn into anything! I just…" Tidus had stopped walking again, but he refused to turn around. He felt his eyes beginning to burn with the beginnings of tears; there wasn't any way he was going to let Selphie see him hurt. She was already a wreck as it was.

"Selphie, it's okay…really," he said, unable to prevent his voice from shaking.

"Tidus I…" Selphie went quiet again. "I'm sorry," she whispered an apology.

"…so am I," Tidus replied and the bell rang, causing the freshman to bolt down the hallway and out of Selphie's sight. Selphie's palm soon met her face and she groaned.

"I need Riku...now," she decided but made no effort to move from her spot in the middle of the hallway.

"For what?" someone spoke from behind her. Selphie turned and came face-to-face with Sora, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

"Sora…tell Riku," she stopped to sniff and look up at the ceiling. "Tell him that I…just tell him to meet me in the nurse's office okay?" she finally managed to speak, wiping at her eyes. Sora tilted his head slightly, concern hitting him like a semi-truck of concrete.

"Yeah, sure. You okay?" he prodded, hoping that Selphie would clue him in. The green-eyed girl hiccuped and brushed Sora off.

"Just tell him for me okay?" she repeated and quickly walked off toward the office, leaving Sora to stand alone in the hallway.

"Right…" he answered, despite the fact that Selphie was long gone. Sora hummed quietly and began to walk down the hall in search of Riku. Instead of finding his boyfriend however, he found a Roxas.

"Hey Rox, have you seen Riku?" he asked the blond boy, falling into step with him briefly.

"Not recently no. Try calling his cell," Roxas suggested, waving over his shoulder and walking into his next class. Sora laughed slightly and rolled his eyes.

"Duh, why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself as he dialed Riku's number, heading back toward the main office.

Riku jumped a bit from the vibration of his phone in his pocket and he reached for it, not even needing to look at who was calling. "Yeah Sor?" he answered.

"Hey…I think we have a problem," Sora said, readjusting the backpack on his shoulder.

"Oh? What's up?"

"Selph. I just ran into her and she was like, crying," Sora explained. Riku raised an eyebrow, his own concern starting to grow.

"Did she say anything?" he asked, already preparing himself to leave class and go find Selphie.

"She said she wanted to talk to you in the nurse's office, but I wanna go with you cause now I'm kind of worried…and I don't like being worried," Sora ranted, huffing slightly. Riku nodded, despite the fact that Sora couldn't see him and began heading toward the office.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be right there kay?"

"I'll meet you outside of the office," Sora replied, already heading that way.

"All right, see ya there," Riku said and hung up, hurrying toward the office as quick as possible. By the time he arrived, Sora was already waiting for him. With a quick wave to the front secretary, Riku headed toward Sora.

"Hey, she in there?"

"I don't know…I think so," Sora answered, grabbing onto Riku's wrist. "C'mon." He then proceeded to drag Riku back through the office, straight into the nurse's office where Selphie was sitting on the lumpy bed, wiping at her eyes.

"Selph?" Sora called out to her, stopping shortly in the doorway. The young girl looked up, spotting her two friends.

"Hey Sora…Riku," she greeted them and sniffed quietly. Sora glanced over at Riku, unsure of how to handle such a situation. Riku made his way over to the bed and sat next to Selphie, wrapping an arm around her and allowing her to lean against him.

"Hey Sel. What happened?" he asked quietly. Selphie leaned her head on Riku's shoulder, staring at the floor.

"Riku…I think I," she was cut off by another hiccup. "Messed up." Sora cautiously crept up toward the bed, approaching his friends.

"How?" he asked. Selphie sniffed and wiped at her eyes again, trying to get the tears to stop.

"Well, we were in first period right?"

"We?" Riku interrupted. Selphie nodded.

"Me and Tidus and Kairi," she filled in. Sora hopped up onto the bed and cuddled up against Selphie's other side. Selphie didn't bother pushing him away and continued her story. "Anyway, Tidus went away to go get me a soda while Kai and I edited some papers. We somehow got into a poking fight and the next thing you know, we fell onto the floor."

"Right…" Sora said, just for the sake of talking. Riku didn't say anything however, rather listening intently to every word Selphie was saying, gently stroking her shoulder.

"So then I was on top of her and then she poked me and I fell on her. Then Tidus walked in and saw us and I quickly got off because he didn't look too happy." Sora leaned his head on Selphie's shoulder.

"I think I know where this one's going," he commented but let Selphie continue. The brunette was starting to calm down a bit.

"So he left all angry-like and I followed him. I told him there was nothing between me and Kairi, but he didn't exactly believe me, so I…I kissed him to reassure him. But I wasn't totally into it, and I think that just made everything worse," Selphie explained.

"Then why'd you do it?" Sora asked quietly. Selphie sighed and shrugged.

"I dunno…I think I was just trying to convince myself that I liked Tidus more or something."

"Aw, Selph," Riku started to say but suddenly sat up straight. "Wait…you told him, didn't you?"

"He kept asking me what was wrong!" Selphie blurted out, sending herself into a frantic state. "I was so confused and I was trying to keep it from him because I didn't want to hurt him, I really didn't!"

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It was just a question," Sora reminded her. Selphie didn't calm down though.

"So I blurted it out and he just…" she stopped.

"He just?" Riku repeated, still brushing fingers against Selphie's shoulder, relaxing the younger girl a bit.

"He looked so hurt you know?"

"Selph," Sora started to say but Selph just sniffed again and ignored him.

"And I don't know what to do," she whined. Sora cuddled against Selphie, burying his face into Selphie's shoulder and nuzzling against it. Selphie shifted and hugged Sora tightly, starting to cry again. Riku continued holding onto Selphie, watching his boyfriend and "younger sister" cuddle next to him.

"Well…I think," he started to say to gain their attention. Selphie blinked away a few tears and looked back at Riku. "I think that maybe it might be a good thing if you and Tidus stay apart, especially since you're so confused right now."

"B-but, he thinks I 'turned that way' because he disappointed me, and he didn't! He never did anything bad to me and here I go, tossing him aside like an out-of-style video game or something," Selphie babbled. Sora pursed his lips in thought, mulling over both sides of the argument.

"Maybe…maybe Riku's right," he slowly said. Selphie returned her attention to Sora. "I mean, maybe you should just take a short break, find yourself and stuff. Besides, you guys can still be friends and stuff."

"Though, you might want to wait a while before you approach him again," Riku advised. Selphie looked down at her hands and nodded. Sora, however, shifted his gaze to Riku.

"Are you crazy? Dude, if she waits, who **knows** what Tidus will do!"

"He's not gonna cut himself or anything, Sora," Riku pointed out.

"That's not what I meant," Sora started to say but Riku cut him off.

"I meant like, wait a couple of days or something."

"I still say approach him soon," Sora argued. Selphie listened to the two boys bicker, head spinning from all of the protests and points they were making. Sora suddenly sat up though and his face lit up, guaranteeing that he had a "brilliant" idea.

"…what?" Riku asked cautiously, also spotting the look.

"Or…maybe **we** can approach him." Sora nodded.

"Oh…I dunno," Selphie started to disagree, but Sora wouldn't hear of it. He bounced off of the bed and got to his feet.

"In fact, that's what we'll do now!" he exclaimed. Riku raised an eyebrow and stared at the younger boy.

"Are you sure?"

"Can't hurt, can it? 'Sides, maybe we can figure out something," Sora retorted.

"…guess not," Riku reluctantly agreed. "Is that okay with you, Sel?"

"Sure…just be careful with how you word things, okay?" she requested. The last thing she needed was to screw up her fragile relationship (if it was even that anymore) with Tidus.

"Totally!" Sora pumped his fist in the air. "You can count on us!" Riku nodded in agreement.

"Will do, don't worry about it," he assured her, petting her hair affectionately. Selphie finally smiled weakly, nodding in gratitude.

"Thanks guys," she said. Sora suddenly leaned over and planted a wet sloppy kiss onto Selphie's cheek.

"No big thing."

"Sora, ew." Selphie smirked, jokingly rubbing her cheek.

"Oh you love it." Sora gave her a cheerful smile.

"I don't…" Riku piped up, frowning a bit. Sora rolled his eyes and leaned over Selphie, making a bit of a show out of kissing Riku on the lips.

"There, you big baby."

"Pfft, whatever." Riku smirked as well.

"…I think we should get to class now," Selphie said to them, sliding off of the bed.

"Screw that, we're going to find Tidus!" Sora exclaimed. "But I mean, uh, you should go to class." He nodded quickly. Riku merely shook his head at Sora's antics.

"Kay." Selphie hugged both boys tightly, smiling again. "Thanks! You guys are great."

"Yeah, in bed and as friends!" Sora chipped in. Riku covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head again.

"Let's just go," he suggested, pulling Sora out into the hall. Selphie waved one last time before scurrying down the hall to her second period class. Sora waved goodbye to Selphie and waited until she was out of sight, turning to face Riku.

"We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Probably." Riku shrugged, taking Sora by the hand. The brunet sighed and began walking down the hall, leading Riku behind him.

"Let's go get this over with then."

-------------------------------------

The doorbell rang downstairs and Roxas jumped off of the couch, throwing his math book to the floor.

"I got it!" he hollered up the stairs toward Hayner, who was currently in his own bedroom. The youngest blond raced toward the door and ripped it open, coming face (well, really, chest) to face with a tall redhead. Roxas slowly felt his excitement melt away.

"Oh…it's you," he said flatly, leaning against the doorframe. "Seifer isn't home," he added almost immediately.

"Who said that I was here to see Seifer?" Axel raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the younger boy.

"Well why else would you be here?" Roxas shot back. Axel chuckled under his breath.

"Okay so I **was** here to see Seifer."

"I knew it!"

"Yeah, but what if I wasn't? You shouldn't jump to conclusions, Roxas. It's not a pretty thing."

"Whatever." Roxas rolled his eyes. "So…see ya later then," he said and began to shut the door. Axel shoved his foot in front of it to stop him.

"Hey now, just because the blond I was looking for isn't here doesn't mean I can't hang out with his younger bro right?" he reasoned, giving Roxas a charming grin.

'_Actually, that's exactly what it means because I'm kind of unhappy with you at the moment kay thanks bye.'_ Roxas thought grudgingly but kept his calm façade in place.

"Well yeah, but why would you want to?"

"Why not?"

"Stop answering me with questions," Roxas demanded, glaring up at the redhead.

"And if I don't?" Axel asked, just to annoy the other boy.

"You are such an annoying little shit!" Roxas exclaimed without even thinking it through. Axel raised an eyebrow and laughed again.

"Well aren't you just a badass," he commented.

"Look, what do you want?"

"I told you, I was looking for Seifer."

"And I told you, he's not here. He'll be back in like, two hours."

"Well then I'll wait," Axel decided and brushed past Roxas into the house.

"Wait a second! What the hell do you think you're doing?" the blue-eyed boy protested, closing the front door and following Axel into the living room.

"Are you always this slow on the uptake? I'm waiting for Seifer…so I figured I'd crash here and hang out with you for a while. Is that okay?" Axel asked, dropping himself onto the couch ungracefully.

"Um…" Roxas started to say no but quickly bit his tongue. First of all, there really wasn't a problem with Axel being there. Secondly, it was rude to shun people away for no good reason. "I…guess it's not a problem," he replied slowly, sitting down next to Axel (but not too close).

"Awesome." Axel's gaze turned to the TV that was on, idly watching Parental Control. He glanced at the blond from the corner of his eye, noticing that Roxas was too absorbed in his Biology book to pay attention to the show. "Whacha workin' on there?"

"Bio…I have to read and answer these questions for tomorrow." Roxas frowned, erasing part of his answer. "I don't understand any of it though."

"Like what?" Axel leaned over, peering at the book.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I happen to be good at Biology. So spill, what are you working with?"

"Cell life or something like that. Something to do with cells…I don't know." Roxas threw his pencil down and leaned back against the couch. "It's all a bunch of useless crap." Axel picked up the pencil and the book, peering over the curriculum briefly.

"Okay so, a cell is an autonomous self replicating unit, in principle that may constitute an organism, in the case of unicellular organisms, or be a sub unit of multicellular organisms in which individual cells may be more or less specialized differentiated) for particular functions. So what that means is-" It was about then that Roxas got lost, giving the side of Axel's head a blank stare.

Did he really expect him to understand all of this?

Either way though, it wasn't a bad situation. He pretended to understand what Axel was teaching him while letting his mind, and his eyes, wander.

'_Okay so I admit it, Axel is actually very good-looking. And I mean that in the straightest w-…okay you know what? Fuck it; I'm a little less than straight, big deal. But that doesn't mean I have a crush on him. I mean really, I have Kairi…Kairi's pretty…I really like Kairi. Oh shit, what's Axel talking about? Oh yeah, cells. But what about cells? I wonder if Axel has a cell. Oh my god, Roxas, focus!'_

"So do you get it?" Axel suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Get what?" Roxas replied, immediately kicking himself.

"…everything I just explained to you. You were listening right?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course I was listening!" Roxas lied through his teeth. "I'm not sure if I still get it, but I was definitely trying to." Axel laughed slightly and shook his head.

'_Dorky kid. Did he really think I didn't notice him staring at me instead of the book?'_ He smiled and took the pencil, scrawling down a phone number onto Roxas' notes.

"Well, that's my cell number if you need more help. Go ahead and call me," he said and pushed the paper toward Roxas, standing at his full height.

"Um…okay sure," Roxas replied, accepting the paper awkwardly. "Where are you…"

"Just tell Seifer that I stopped by and that he can call me if he cares. I just remembered that I have places to be," Axel said briefly, already heading to the front door. "But thanks for letting me chill here for a little bit and remember that you can call me if you need more help in Bio."

"Okay…thanks," Roxas said unsurely. Axel grinned and waved over his shoulder.

"Or you know, you can just call for whatever. Later." And with that, he was out the front door. Roxas stared blankly after him, trying to process what had just happened. He sat there for about five minutes before the front door opened again, revealing Seifer. The older boy gave Roxas a skeptical sneer and folded his arms over his chest.

"What are you looking at?"

"…somebody was just here to see you," Roxas retorted, packing up his book and papers.

"Who?" Seifer raised an eyebrow, already heading over to the couch to claim it as his.

"That red-haired boy you're always with," Roxas chose his words carefully, picking up everything and moving out of Seifer's way. He didn't want to sound suspicious.

"…you mean Axel?"

"I guess that's his name."

"What'd he want? And go get me a soda," Seifer ordered, already changing the channel on the TV. Rolling his eyes slightly, Roxas obeyed his oldest brother and wandered into the kitchen, grabbing a can of soda and returning it.

"He didn't say, he just stopped by and said he was looking for you. He left though."

"Yeah, obviously." Seifer rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it probably wasn't anything important anyway."

"Probably not," Roxas muttered.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Going up to do my homework," the youngest blond called over his shoulder as he raced up the stairs, getting as far away from Seifer as possible. He stopped shortly inside his bedroom door, shutting it behind him and dropping his books on the floor. In one hand, he held Axel's phone number; in the other, his cell phone. Sneaking a glance over his shoulder both ways, he quickly plugged in Axel's number and saved it to his address book, crawling under his desk and sending the original note through the shredder.

-------------------------------

"Seriously, don't you have anywhere else to be?" A brunet boy asked from the kitchen of a small apartment, rearranging the bouquet of flowers that rested in the middle of the table.

"Yeah, Axel. People might start to think that **you're** living here too," the other brunet commented from his position on the couch, sprawling out and stretching.

"Oh come on guys, you can't tell me that you don't love having me over," Axel argued, dropping himself onto the couch, sitting on top of the other boy's feet. Demyx grunted and kicked Axel, pulling his feet out from under the extra weight.

"Of course we do, but you always eat **our** food and use **our **shower and **our** washing machine and-"

"Marluxia, cool it," Demyx cut off the other boy. "You know Axel's got it kind of rough right now."

"So I've heard," Marluxia mumbled under his breath, turning his attention back to the boiling pot of soup. "Ax, are you staying for dinner?"

"…are you going to let me stay?"

"Might as well," Marluxia sighed, stirring the soup and checking on the sandwiches he was grilling.

"Then fuck yeah I'm staying. I'm starving. Thanks for the offer, Marly!" Axel grinned cheekily and settled even further into the couch, swiping the remote from Demyx's hand. Instead of getting angry, Demyx merely laughed and rolled his eyes.

"You're horrible," he simply said, amusement lacing his voice.

"So I've heard," Axel repeated Marluxia's earlier words, stopping on Dr. Phil. "Do you think this quack really knows what he's even talking about?"

"Depends on the topic." Marluxia came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of sandwiches and dropping it on the table in front of the other two boys. Axel immediately seized one and took a huge bite, savoring the flavor and chewing slowly. Marluxia might have had a permanent stick up his metrosexual ass, but he **did** know how to cook. His attention returned to the TV, briefly tuning in to listen to what Dr. Phil was talking about that day.

'_Oh, pedophiles. How lovely.'_ He thought idly, finishing off his first sandwich and reaching for another. He stopped in mid-bite then, a thoughtful look crossing his features.

"...Axel?" Demyx called his name, waving a hand in front of his face. The green-eyed boy blinked and returned back to earth.

"Yeah?"

"You were doing it again," Demyx informed him.

"Sorry, just thinking."

"Oh? Care to share?" Demyx sat up in interest, gnawing on his own sandwich.

"…can I ask you something without you judging or freaking out on me?"

"Of course…I'm your best friend. I'm not allowed to judge you," Demyx joked, leaning back against the couch. "So what's on your mind?"

"Okay so…let's say there's this 17 year old…and there's this other boy that the 17 year old is mildly interested in. But, the 17 year old is a little wary about doing anything because of the age difference."

"What's the other boy's age?"

"Uh…he just recently turned 15." Demyx raised an eyebrow for a second, blinking in surprise and it was then Axel realized that Demyx looked slightly retarded when he tried doing both. That wasn't the issue though; the issue was that Demyx hadn't answered him yet.

"That's actually not too bad. I mean, if you want to hear about bad, ask Luxia."

"What? Why?" It was Axel's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"Oh no reason…other than he's almost 19 and scamming on a 14 year old!" Demyx shouted. Axel chose that exact moment to choke on the bite of food in his mouth.

"**What?**" he coughed, looking at Demyx with wide eyes.

"It's true."

"What's true?" Marluxia questioned, walking back into the room with a tray of soup.

"You're hitting on a 14 year old?" Axel asked in disbelief. Marluxia let out an exasperated sigh and contemplated whether he should pour Demyx's soup over his head or leave it in the bowl.

"It's not as bad as it sounds all right? Naminé's actually really mature for her age. She's not like most freshmen," Marluxia defended himself, settling into a chair kitty-corner from the other two boys.

"Okay, sure whatever you say," Axel snickered, grabbing his soup and slurping at it.

"Well you're not much better. You're almost 18 and scamming on a barely 15 year old!"

"I don't turn 18 'til May though!"

"And I don't turn 19 until March!"

"Guys!" Demyx broke them up. "Does it matter, honestly? Besides, we have bigger issues to discuss."

"Like what?" Both boys blinked in confusion.

"Like…do we know this boy, Axel?" Demyx grinned. Axel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I highly doubt it…and no, I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not? I told you about Naminé; it's only fair that you tell us about your mystery boy," Marluxia protested.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that I know who she is!"

"So…does that mean we **would** know who the guy is?" Demyx cut in again.

"You guys frustrate me…lots. And lots." Axel sulked, slurping up the rest of his soup and setting the bowl on the tray again. "Maybe I'll tell you later, I don't know. Let me toy with him a little bit longer and see if it's even worth it."

"So I guess this means you're over Leon huh?" Marluxia dipped his sandwich into his soup, biting into the semi-soggy bread.

"Oh, of course. Mostly…"

"Are you, or aren't you?" Demyx questioned.

"Mostly," Axel repeated, getting to his feet and pulling his shoes back on. "Look, you know you guys are like the brothers I've never had right?"

"Of course." Marluxia nodded.

"Then just back off a bit and trust me on this one. I promise I'll keep you updated on this one," Axel promised, already heading for the front door.

"You definitely promise?" Demyx asked, watching Axel closely. He trusted him, really he did…but, he was Axel. Axel always had something up his sleeve.

"Of course I do." Axel nodded and grinned slightly. "Now, you know how I hate to dine and dash, but I've really got to get going. I've got a shitload of homework to finish up. Thanks for dinner guys." He waved and opened the front door.

"Anytime, Axel," Marluxia sighed heavily, still eating his dinner and changing the channel to HGTV.

"Bye, Red!" Demyx waved back and with that, Axel was gone. Demyx shifted his gaze toward Marluxia, green eyes dancing with mischief.

"So..."

"So…?" Marluxia repeated, looking away from the TV and back at Demyx.

"Who do you think Axel's mystery boy is?"

"Dem, if Axel doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to tell us," Marluxia reasoned, returning his attention back to the TV.

"But I wanna know," Demyx whined, pouting slightly for extra emphasis.

"…well…maybe we can do a little bit of investigative work. C'mon," Marluxia said, setting down his empty soup bowl and heading into his bedroom, Demyx trotting along right behind him.

-------------------------

"Roxas, pick up the fucking phone!" Seifer shouted from downstairs. Roxas reached over to his right and picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Uh…hi, Rox," Kairi's voice spoke from the other side of the line.

"Oh, hey Kairi!" Roxas pushed himself away from the computer desk, heading over to his bed. "What's up?"

"…did I call at a bad time? Your brother sounded kind of pissed off," she pointed out the obvious, but Roxas didn't say that.

"Nah, he always sounds like that, don't worry. So what are you doing?" he asked, shifting around on his bed to find a comfortable position.

"Nothing really, just working on this stupid assignment for math. What about you?"

"…nothing out of the ordinary," Roxas replied, glancing at the computer from the corner of his eye.

"Sounds like fun, really."

"Well of course it is," Roxas let out a nervous laugh, immediately cringing.

'_I sound like a loser.'_

"How could I ever have thought otherwise?" Kairi laughed as well, causing Roxas to grin.

'_Okay, so maybe not _**that **_much of a loser.'_

"So um…what made you call me?" he asked, fiddling with the edge of his blanket.

"Well…Sora said you were smart with math. Think you could help me out?"

"Depends…what are you working with?"

"Inequalities," Kairi groaned, rolling her eyes. "They just kind of suck." Roxas chuckled and leaned back against his pillows.

"Well I can't exactly help you without seeing what I'm doing."

"So write it down," Kairi barely got out before she started reading off numbers and equations, leaving Roxas' head spinning as he tried solving it for her.

"Okay…I think I figured it out. You have to solve for x and to do that you have to multiple the first set of the equation by the third set divided by the square root of x minus 12 to the second. Does that make any sense?"

"Truthfully? No," Kairi replied, laughing slightly.

"What number problem is this?"

"Thirteen."

"Check the back of the book then. They always have the odd numbers in back," Roxas suggested. "I know you don't like cheating, but seriously, just do it." Kairi flipped to the back of the book, copying down the answer listed there.

"I don't like this…but I'll live with it. Thanks for trying though."

"No problem," Roxas replied. Suddenly it hit him; he just had to pull an Axel. "Say Kairi, maybe I could just tutor you sometime, show you how to solve this shit so that you don't have to call me every time you get stuck."

"…yeah sure, that'd work out great," Kairi replied shortly after, sounding rather thoughtful. Roxas licked his dry lips and swallowed thickly, going even further.

"And then maybe on Friday I can take you out," he said slowly, waiting for her to say no.

"Take me out?" Kairi repeated.

"You know…like a date…" Silence filled the line as the two teens sat, one thinking of an answer and one waiting impatiently.

"…yeah. I'd like that."

"You would? I mean, yeah, okay! That's great!" Roxas smiled widely. "So Friday night we'll go out."

"On a date," Kairi reminded him with another small laugh.

"Right. On a date. And tomorrow I can come over and help you with math.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay, awesome! So, I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. See ya later, Roxy!" Kairi said her goodbye and hung up the phone, leaving Roxas to do the same thing. Roxas grinned again and pumped a victory fist into the air.

"Yes!"

"Yes what?" Seifer inquired, sticking his head into the doorway. Roxas didn't even bother glaring at the older boy for entering without permission.

"I've got a date for Friday!"

"With a girl?"

"Duh."

"Hmm…must not be that great of a girl if she's going out with you."

"Shut up!"

"Is she hot?"

"Uh…I guess."

"Bang her."

"What?" Roxas' eyes widened. Seifer merely shrugged and swiped the phone out of Roxas' hand.

"You heard me. You might not get another chance after this to do her."

"…I'm not having sex with Kairi! Are you crazy! I'm 15!"

"So? Age doesn't matter for you, you're male."

"Seifer, stop being sick…and gimme back my phone," he demanded and lunged for the cordless phone.

"Why? So you can call that little faggot friend of yours?"

"So what if I was?"

"Too bad, squirt. I need to call Rai and Fuu. Just use your cell phone." Seifer walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him, taking Roxas' phone with him.

"Ass," Roxas muttered, glancing over at his computer. A devious smile replaced his dreamy one as he slipped into his desk chair, logging onto the internet. It wasn't even ten minutes before he got the results he wanted.

"Roxas you little bitch, get offline!" Seifer hollered from the other end of the hall. Roxas calmly rose out of his chair, locked the bedroom door, and turned on his stereo, blasting music through his room and pretending like he couldn't hear his brother.

He'd definitely pay for it tomorrow; but today was his day. Nothing could stop him now.

_----------------------_

_He was all over her, kissing her deeply yet softly. She was pressed against the wall, red hair being held in his hand that supported her head. Soft, tiny little hands made their way up his shirt, caressing his ab muscles and trailing cool fingers in little patterns. He pulled his lips away from hers, moving his own down to her neck and sucking on the sensitive flesh lightly._

_She tasted of strawberries and jasmine._

_His own hands slipped up her shirt as well, trailing to the back of her bra and unhooking it with ease. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt, removing both shirt and bra and throwing them onto the floor. She pulled his shirt over his own head and threw it on the floor in the pile she had started. She pushed him back toward the bed, guiding him backwards until he felt his back hit the mattress. She stood above him and slowly slipped out of her skirt, pushing it down to her ankles. Lavender panties were all that were left on her. She rolled down the skimpy piece of fabric, tossing it carelessly on the bedpost. He quickly yanked off his pants and boxers, standing up again to meet her eyes. Blue eyes were dark with lust as she pushed him down again, knocking him flat against the mattress. She climbed onto the bed as well and straddled him down. He closed his eyes slowly, waiting for any sign that she was ready._

_That sign never came though because the next thing he knew, he was on his stomach with his face in the pillow, additional weight on top of him. He looked back over his shoulder and found himself meeting cat-like green eyes. He opened his mouth to protest but let out a loud scream as searing pain soared through his anal cavity. Pain blinded him briefly and he turned away, waiting until he could see straight to tell the other boy off._

_He never got that far though. The other boy suddenly hit the younger boy's prostate, sending pleasure rippling throughout his body. Little cries and moans of pleasure left his mouth. He could hear the red-haired boy's ragged breathing in his ear, warning him that he was close. Larger fingers trailed down to the younger's crotch, wrapping around his member and pumping slowly. He was soon being pumped in time with the green-eyed boy's thrusts and without warning came with a loud shriek all over the other's hand. Not long after that, he felt warmth flood into his body as the older boy rode out his orgasm. He felt the other pull out of him and settle in beside him. He turned and curled up next to him, cuddling for the source of warmth. Green eyes filled with love and compassion fixated onto him, a small smile playing on pale lips._

"_Roxas…you're going to be late for school." _

"_Huh?" Roxas blinked in confusion._

"I said, you're going to be late for school! Come on, get up already!" Hayner tugged at his younger brother's blankets, poking him until the other boy would wake up. Roxas opened his eyes blearily and peered up at Hayner.

"Wha…?" he mumbled, still feeling tired and disoriented. Hayner, on the other hand, was smirking at him.

"We're talking about this later. School starts in half an hour," he said and walked out of the room, snickering slightly as he went. Roxas still wasn't quite sure what he found so amusing but decided to brush it off. After all, Hayner was kind of nuts. He yawned quietly and stretched his limbs, jerking slightly in surprise as he felt his leg brush against something wet.

Come to think of it…his pajama bottoms felt kind of wet too…not to mention his boxers. Roxas flipped the blanket back and looked at his bed, instantly feeling his cheeks grow warm.

"What. The. Fuck.," he stated, staring down at his wet sheets. "Fuck," he muttered as he set to work, already feeling the onset of a bad mood. Suddenly it hit him like a bullet train. Hayner was laughing because he **knew!**

"Shit." Roxas rolled his eyes heavenward and prayed to every deity that he could think of that Hayner didn't hear much of anything, not even giving his dream a second thought.

-----------------------------------------

Dun dun dun! Yes, after two months, I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for the wait, I recently started college so...yeah.

Anyway, thanks to: JohnneyAntonelli,** inoku**, random fan, **redmushrooms**, Astrazoxity, **Shimmy123**, CrimsonRose18, **Kenpachi**, Cringe, **Shiguna**, Cherky, **Squirrelgurl**, DragonDame57, **Dreamcrafter**, RaeDragongirl, **bcz**, amandazgreat, **Naughty Sensei**, Dreaming in HD, **uki-fune**, Mako, **silentxlovex,** Amber-chan, **Midnights Heart**, DanteMoon, **AngelicOrgueil**, Tysonkaiexperiment and **black vapor**. You guys rock and I love you.

Well, can't stay for long, must run off to work now! Feedback is love and hope you enjoyed chapter four!

Also, thanks to Apwil like always for editing shit for me. I heart you.


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